South Africa is taking a measured approach to its relationship with the United States, seeing recent hiccups as temporary "noise" in diplomatic relations.
Vincent Magwenya, the spokesperson for the South African presidency, clarified that no official delegation has been sent to Washington to smooth things over with the Donald Trump administration.
Last week, the US expelled South African envoy Ebrahim Rasool, accusing him of “hating” everything Trump.
But President Cyril Ramaphosa said he recognises that relations with the White House have been strained, but was optimistic that the two countries could still bridge their differences.
“We will therefore seek, as we must, to ensure our relations are on a good footing, which is one thing we do with all countries in the world.
“We don’t have enemies in the world. We always seek to have very good and friendly relations,” Mr Ramaphosa said on Monday, asking the public not to “loose sleep” over the incident.
The South African leader said he would continue to engage the Trump administration diplomatically, in the hope of ironing out the existing issues.
In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, President Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Mr Magwenya, said the government's commitment to fostering a mutually beneficial partnership with the US remained intact, even though he noted that it would not be appropriate to send a delegation now.
Mr Magwenya was responding to claims that South Africa had sent a delegation to the US to strengthen diplomatic relations with Washington.
"There are still vacancies in the Trump administration that are key to decision-making and engagement with US," he explained, particularly in the critical roles related to African affairs.
Nevertheless, South Africa says it is open to talks.
Frosty relations
Tensions between Pretoria and Washington reached a new low last week after the expulsion of Mr Rasool, who was declared persona non grata and given 72 hours to leave the country.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday in a post on X that he was expelling Mr Rasool, calling him a "race-baiting politician" who hates Trump, and reposting the article from right-wing website Breitbart.
The expulsion followed an article that quoted Mr Rasool as saying President Trump was leading a white supremacist movement.
The US said the comments were “unacceptable”.
Relations between the two countries have slumped since Trump cut US financial aid to South Africa, citing disapproval of its land policy and its genocide case against Washington's ally Israel at the International Court of Justice.
“The debate on Rasool’s public expulsion as SA’s ambassador to the US has focused on the wisdom of his remarks,” Adam Habib, former vice chancellor of Wits University in Johannesburg, wrote on X.
“But this debate misses the substantive issues at stake. First, the public way the expulsion was done suggests that the US is looking for a political showdown with SA.”
According to him, the US is doing this expulsion “in this undiplomatic and humiliating manner because it wants to make an example of SA.”
“It wants to send a message to the rest of the developing world that there are consequences for challenging US interests and its international and political agenda.”
US-SA trade
The US is South Africa’s biggest trading partner, reaching some $25.5 billion in 2023. According to the US Trade Representative, South Africa’s largest exports to the US were precious metals like platinum and gold, which reached $6 billion in 2023. Overall, the US has aa $6.9 billion trade deficit with South Africa, official data shows. That may explain South Africa’s measured response to the current situation.
“And were it to act against us as a nation, there will be significant costs to pay by ordinary citizens. As much as people will chafe at this, their analysis is true and we need to be aware of this,” Prof Habib warned.
But South Africa’s head of public diplomacy, Clayson Monyela, argued that South Africa has developed similar trade relations with China, which could offer alternatives.
While trade with Beijing has grown, it is South Africa that has a trade deficit with China, unlike the US.
According to the UN's Comtrade, an international trade database, South Africa exported $12.4 billion worth of goods to China in 2024, while its imports were valued at $22 billion.
Future ties
Looking to the future, Mr Magwenya expressed optimism that President Ramaphosa and his counterpart, Mr Trump, would eventually meet and emphasised that discussions would take place at higher levels of leadership between both countries to strengthen their strategic relationship.
At the global level, Mr Magwenya reiterated South Africa’s commitment to its longstanding relationship with Russia, while actively working to improve ties with the US through various diplomatic channels.
South Africa will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 10 as part of President Ramaphosa’s ongoing efforts to mediate peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“It’s a war that cannot be won through military means; negotiations have to be inclusive,” he affirmed, reiterating South Africa’s commitment to promoting dialogue and peace.
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