Cyril Ramaphosa playing with fire

President Cyril Ramaphosa took aim at United States President Donald Trump in his State of the Nation Address (SoNA), which can have dire consequences for South Africa.

Ramaphosa delivered his annual State of the Nation Address in the Cape Town City Hall on 6 February 2025.

The President told South Africans, “We will not be bullied. We will stand together as a united nation.”

“We will speak with one voice in defence of our national interest, our sovereignty and our constitutional democracy,” he added.

Although he did not explicitly mention Trump, it was widely seen as a response to the United States President’s criticism of South Africa.

Trump alleged that South Africa is confiscating land and mistreating certain classes of people. “The United States won’t stand for it. We will act,” he said.

He added that the United States would cut off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation into the issue has been completed.

Other influential people in the Trump Administration, including Elon Musk and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, also criticised South Africa.

Rubio cited South Africa’s new land expropriation law as one of the many reasons why he is snubbing the G20 being hosted in the country.

“South Africa is doing very bad things and expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote solidarity, equality, and sustainability,” he said.

Musk slated Ramaphosa for defending “openly racist ownership laws”, referring to black empowerment laws that differentiate on race regarding business policies.

Ramaphosa responded to Trump and others, saying South Africa is a constitutional democracy deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice, and equality.

“The South African government has not confiscated any land. The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument,” he said.

“It is a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution.”

Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said they hoped Trump would visit South Africa before the G20 Summit, where the heads of state could meet.

South Africa’s International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola said he would continue to engage the United States on South Africa’s laws.

Cyril Ramaphosa playing with fire

Award-winning economist Dawie Roodt warned that South Africa faces dire consequences for not making Trump happy.

He told Biznews that whether South Africa likes Trump or not, he is the most powerful man in the world.

“He’s got the biggest economy behind him. He’s got the world’s reserve currency behind him. He’s got technology behind him,” Roodt said.

“Donald Trump mostly gets what he wants. That is the reality. That’s the reality that we have to deal with.”

He added that South Africa’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) membership is at serious risk.

“If we remain on AGOA for the next few months, South Africa should consider itself lucky,” he said.

Roodt argued that South Africa will be kicked out of AGOA unless it takes extraordinary measures to get on Donald Trump’s good side.

This is not where it stops. “If the relations deteriorate even further, further actions against South Africa are possible, including levies and import duties,” he said.

He added that it could become even worse, including sanctions, which would cause serious economic hardship.

The United States is South Africa’s second biggest trading partner and is important in funding fiscal deficits. 

Instead of strengthening its relationship with the United States, South Africa has aligned itself with countries like Iran, Palestine, Russia, and China.

“We know there’s this rivalry between the United States and those countries. However, South Africa decided to align more with the enemies of the United States,” he said.

Roodt expects the United States to act. “Donald Trump is making it clear that bad things will happen to South Africa if we continue on this path,” he said.

“We must understand that if we don’t polish Trump’s ego, we’re going to pay a very dear price. South Africa simply cannot afford that.”