(AFP) – Two of South Africa’s top golfers and its richest businessman are in the delegation meeting US President Donald Trump Wednesday in a bid to mend tattered bilateral ties, the presidency said. President Cyril Ramaphosa will be joined by four cabinet ministers at the Washington talks that South Africa hopes will reset relations and save trade with its second-largest trading partner.
Also in his team will be professional golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, as well as the country’s richest businessman Johann Rupert, chairman of the luxury goods company Richemont, the presidency said. Trump’s delegation is expected to feature South African-born Elon Musk among top US officials including Vice President JD Vance, it said. Musk, an ally of Trump, has accused Pretoria of “openly racist” laws, a reference to black empowerment policies seen as a hurdle to the licensing of his Starlink satellite internet service.
The US president is an avid golfer and Ramaphosa has on several occasions invited him for a game on one of the country’s world-class courses in an attempt to build a personal rapport. Other foreign leaders have also sought ways to engage with Trump, especially after he and Vance publicly berated Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in a televised meeting at the White House in February.
The South African government has said it wants to use the meeting with Trump to address false claims that white Afrikaners are victims of “genocide”. The support of the three high-profile Afrikaners in Ramaphosa’s visit to the White House comes about 10 days after around 50 Afrikaners arrived in the United States to take up Trump’s offer of “refuge”.
© 2024 AFP
