There was a moment with a glimmer of hope for beleaguered South Africa. That moment appeared on May 21, 2025, with a meeting at the White House between US President Donald J. Trump and his South African counterpart, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The purpose of the meeting was to ‘reset’ the relationship between them after violently racist and anti-Western policies adopted by the largest political party in South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC), which heads a coalition government, were criticised by President Trump.
While Ramaphosa focused on trade at the meeting –- probably believing he could get away with neo-Marxist policies by tempting Trump with trade opportunities, such as availability of critical minerals — Trump instead brooded on the deep injustice against the country’s white minorities. Many onlookers believe they deserving what they are getting as a result of sometimes hundreds of years of discrimination against the Blacks, or “Coloureds,” by South Africa’s White European settlers.
