South African Correspondent
Johannesburg-South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will aim to reset strained relations with the United States during a visit to Washington this week, with discussions expected to focus on business opportunities involving Elon Musk\u2019s companies, including Tesla and Starlink, officials confirmed Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ramaphosa\u2019s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday comes amid escalating tensions over South Africa\u2019s land reform policies, its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, and recent U.S. decisions to cut funding and grant refugee status to a group of white South Americans alleging racial persecution\u2014a claim Pretoria rejects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trade Proposals on the Table<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Central to the talks will be a trade proposal designed to ease friction. South African officials are prepared to offer favorable tariffs for Tesla imports in exchange for the electric vehicle giant building charging infrastructure in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis could be one of the points discussed,\u201d Ramaphosa\u2019s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said in a text message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also confirmed that licensing for Musk\u2019s satellite internet venture, Starlink, would be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. has reportedly pressured nations to approve Starlink, per a recent Washington Post report citing State Department cables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk, a South Africa-born billionaire and Trump ally, previously claimed Starlink was blocked in his home country due to his race, alleging bias against Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) rules requiring foreign telecom firms to sell 30% of local subsidiaries to historically disadvantaged groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa\u2019s telecom regulator denied the accusation in March, stating Starlink had not formally applied for a license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Agricultural Concerns Loom<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, South Africa\u2019s Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, part of Ramaphosa\u2019s delegation, emphasized the urgency of preserving duty-free access for farm exports to the U.S. under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), now under threat due to Trump\u2019s tariff policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLosing these benefits would be disastrous for farmers, farm workers, and the economy at large,\u201d Steenhuisen warned in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Fragile Diplomatic Balance<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House has yet to comment on the agenda, but analysts view the outreach as critical for South Africa, which risks further economic fallout amid U.S. scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ramaphosa\u2019s pivot to Musk-linked ventures underscores a strategic bid to leverage the tech mogul\u2019s influence with Trump while addressing domestic priorities like energy infrastructure and internet access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether the proposals will sway Trump\u2014or Musk\u2014remains uncertain. For now, Pretoria\u2019s message is clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are committed to mutually beneficial partnerships,\u201d Magwenya said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zim GBC News\u00a9\ufe0f2025<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" South African CorrespondentJohannesburg-South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will aim to reset strained relations with the United States during a visit to Washington this week, with discussions expected to focus on… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6976,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6975\/revisions\/6976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}