March 25, 2025
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters on Tuesday the government plans to send a new “top-class” Ambassador to the U.S. that will help rebuild the strained relationship between the two countries.
Speaking to reporters in South Africa, Ramaphosa said now that Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, the previous South African Ambassador to the U.S. who was expelled by the Trump administration this month after negative remarks he made about the U.S. President surfaced, has returned home, it is up to the government to find a good replacement.
“The U.S. is the second largest trading partner to South Africa. Therefore we need to have top-class representation in the US and that’s something we’re working on,” he told reporters.
Ramaphosa also told reporters he has had discussions with the Trump administration about the discontinuance of U.S. federal funding to South Africa. He pointed out that it is the U.S. government’s right to halt funding. “It’s their money and in many ways, it’s a wake-up call on our part as South Africans that we got to find ways of being self-reliant, on relying on our own resources. That’s what our people expect even in our fiscal constraints and challenges, so this is a matter that we’re discussing.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month that halted all federal funding to South Africa, citing South Africa’s leading role in International Criminal Justice’s genocide case against Israel and what the American President called unjust discrimination against White South Africans regarding the country’s Land Expropriation Act law.
President Ramaphosa noted that while discussions continue between the two countries, he also underscored South Africa’s need to maintain its sovereignty, reiterating that the funding cuts are a reminder for the government to always ensure resources are available to look after South Africans. “This is a matter that we’re going to be discussing. But what is prominent in our own mind is the welfare and improving the lives of South Africans is prominent and therefore we must focus on that,” he said
Switching news, President Ramaphosa also gave updates on the SADC-EAC leader’s virtual meeting held this week. He said the leaders agreed to work together on a ceasefire agreement between Rwanda and DRC that will lead to a permanent ceasefire.
“For us as South Africa, it was a very encouraging moment and we can now say there’s a light at the end of this tunnel where there has been conflict,” he said.
