Africa-Press – South-Africa. As President Cyril Ramaphosa meets US President Donald Trump face to face on Wednesday, the EFF is unhappy about billionaire Johann Rupert’s alleged role in the diplomatic delegation.
Parliament’s international relations and co-operation portfolio committee met on Wednesday to discuss the turbulent SA-US bilateral ties.
The EFF called business tycoon Rupert’s involvement a “spit in the face of our democracy”. EFF MP Nqobile Matilda Mhlongo described Rupert as a “major beneficiary of unequal land and economic relations in South Africa”.
“We note the reports that our president has opted to be a plus-one of the real president of South Africa, Mr Rupert, to take him to the US to try to mend the relationship,” she said.
“As soon as this delegation is back from the US we need them to account for what they promised Trump and Elon Musk to safeguard our democracy and sovereignty.”
She expressed outrage about non-elected people “leading the delegation”. “We must be disgusted that we’ve got non-elected people who are not members of government or elected officials leading a diplomatic delegation,” she said, warning against “state capture 2.0”.
Mhlongo celebrated the departure of at least 49 Afrikaners granted refugee status in the US. “We hope these individuals can be declared undesirable persons and their citizenship revoked indefinitely because their actions amount to them having denounced their citizenship.”
She urged Ramaphosa to prioritise trade with Brics nations, the Global South and African partners over mending ties with the US.
“When President Ramaphosa goes begging [to] Trump he should never cower and give in to demands to mend relationships with genocidal Israel. We are encouraging him to take the opportunity to tell Trump and his allies that we are continuing our battle at the International Court of Justice to have genocide in Palestine declared a genocide.
“We should never compromise our principles to mend the relationship with the US, we must not give in.”
Regarding Trump’s reported intention not to attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg later this year, Mhlongo said he fears facing his global peers due to his controversial tariff policies which have strained international relations.
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