Can he determine the relations of South Africa with the US?

The President of South Africa has previously confronted serious challenges – he was the most important negotiator for the African National Congress (ANC) of Nelson Mandela during conversations to end the white minority rule in the early 1990s – but his upcoming meeting in the White House will need all his charm.

Cyril Ramaphosa wants to restore the broken relationship of his nation with the US – and his famous negotiating skills will be put to the test if he tries to win the most powerful leader in the world.

US President Donald Trump and his team have been unusually silent about the journey, in which the press secretary Karoline Leavitt was informed on Monday Minister Van Witte Huis to provide details – or even publicly acknowledge that the visit is taking place.

“The trade relationships are what is most important – that is what brought us here,” said Ramaphosa on Tuesday in Washington. “We want to come from the United States with a really good trade agreement. We want to strengthen those relationships and we want to consolidate good relationships between our two countries.”

The two have been in Loggerheads for months, where Trump has repeatedly insisted that the Afrikaner community of South Africa is confronted with an “genocide” -a claim that is reinforced by his close adviser Elon Musk, the South African -born tech billionairar, also al., Al. It is widely discredited.

Tensions were found days after Trump was found in January for his second term when President Ramaphosa signed in the law a controversial account As a result of which the government of South Africa cannot expropriate private land in certain circumstances in certain circumstances if it is considered “fair and in the public interest”.

This only served to affect the image of Africa’s largest economy in the eyes of the Trump administration – Angry because of his genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

In February the US president announced the suspension of critical help to South Africa and offered to help members of the Afrikaner community, who are usually white descendants of early Dutch and French settlers, to settle in the US as “refugees”.

South Africa’s ambassador in Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, was also deported in March After accusing Trump of “mobilizing supremacism” and trying to project “white victimization as a dog whistle”.

The American State Secretary Marco Rubio said Rasool was a “Raceba politician” who was “no longer welcome in our big country”.

The arrival of the first group of Afrikaners in the US last week the situation further inflamedWith Trump again doubling on his claims that white farmers are “brutally killed” and their “land is seized” – which has repeatedly been refused by the government of South Africa.

According to the South African political analyst Anthoni van Nieuwkerk, Ramaphosa’s decision is to go to the White House a “risky strategy”, especially given the recent hard attitude of Trump.

Prof van Nieuwkkerk predicts two likely scenarios that take place – the first sees “pleasant and cordial” interaction and the reset that South Africa likes to be “if rational spirits prevail and if a lot of homework has been done” on both sides.

But he warns as “emotional spirits triumphs” and the focus is on white genocide, things, things can quickly unravel.

“If the South African delegation cannot convince the Trump administration of the law of South Africa to exercise his own policy choices in the interior and internationally … Then the Oval Office moment will be used by Trump to humiliate Ramaphosa and read him the Riot Act,” said the Academic of South.

“That second scenario is not what we want.”

He hopes that the delegation of South Africa has arrived in the US with a “seductive proposal”, adding to it: “The negotiations cannot start in the Oval Office, in front of the cameras.

“That live moment must be the conclusion of a negotiation that should have happened earlier.”

On this score he says that South Africa has a bait in store: Ramaphosa, known for its negotiation skills and warmth.

He knows which buttons he should press – and finding common land over golf can be the swing he takes. The 72-year-old has already invited the American leader for a friendly golf round during the G20 summit that takes place in South Africa in November and has recorded two professional golfers in his entourage to Washington: Ernie Els and Retief Goose.

“Whether people from Cyril Ramaphosa such as or not, we must acknowledge that he was one of the most important players in the transition from apartheid to democracy. He had it happened because of his personality and style,” said Prof van Nieuwkkerk.

Dr. Lubna Nadvi, a political analyst located at the South African University of Kwazulu-Natal, agrees that the South African president has the personality to “handle the situation when things get out of hand”.

“I expect that this face-to-face meeting makes it possible to strengthen the relationship that facts are placed on the table,” she said, adding that the “propaganda” that Trump had influenced should be tackled.

It was important for the Ramaphosa team to allow the US to “accept that South Africa is a sovereign country and has the right to make the decisions it wants to make,” said Dr. Nadvi.

The spokesperson for Ramaphosa, Vincent Magwenya, said the BBC that it was hoped that the journey “would initiate a process in the direction of the standardization of diplomatic relations” and “laying the foundation” for improved trade relationships.

Since it was all confirmed in the short term, the South African delegation – which includes four senior cabinet ministers – had little time to set up a “formal program”, he said.

But he suggested that it would probably concentrate on extending the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a 25-year piece of American legislation that guarantees tax-free access to American consumers for certain goods from Africa.

South Africa is one of the largest exporters under AHOA and generates around $ 2.7 billion (£ 2 billion) in sales in 2023, usually from the sale of vehicles, jewelry and metals.

There is concern that the deal may not be renewed If it comes for assessment later this year or if this is the case, South Africa can be excluded from the new agreement.

“In the absence of that continuation or expansion of AGOA, we are ready to deal with the Trump government about a new trade relationship frame that we think will be mutual,” said Mr Magwenya.

About the acidification of relations between Pretoria and Washington, he said that South Africa hoped to have a “candid, constructive discussion about them”.

Interestingly, Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen is part of the delegation. His Democratic Alliance is part of the coalition government of South Africa and is a vocal critic of the ANC empowerment policy and say that they lead to favoritism and corruption. The ANC denies this.

Speaking of the ICJ case, in which South Africa Israel accused in December 2023 of committing genocide against Palestinians who live in Gaza – a statement that Israel denies – the Lord Magwenya admitted that it could lead to a robust discussion. “

“We cannot withdraw that problem procedurally (and it) remains contrary.

“With regard to the humanitarian crisis and its enlightenment, however, there is agreement there with President Trump and we will concentrate more on what we can do together in those areas where we agree.”

On Friday, Trump recognized “many people stares” in Gaza after Israel’s recent blockade of humanitarian stocks to the territory – comments that have led to a “fundamental amount of food” that Gaza enters.

Mr Magwenya has also arranged that South Africa would not go into the meeting of Wednesday “with a starting bowl”.

“As much as South Africa needs access to one of the world’s largest markets … the United States also need certain products and goods from South Africa.”

South Africa currently exports various minerals to the US, including platinum, iron and manganese, as well as gemstones, metals and fruit.

The “geo-strategic location” also made it “attractive” for the US, Prof van Nieuwkerk added.

Painting a sausage case scenario, the analyst said: “There are players who would like to see us fail and then use and … move our role in Africa. This is the price we will pay if things go wrong in the Oval Office”.

But the Lord Magwenya was the effort to explain that the White House meeting was not a “sprint” for a solution.

“What it represents is the start of a process to resolve the current impasse and to normalize diplomatic relationships,” he said.

“Whether that meeting has a negative or positive outcome, it will nevertheless be an important opportunity for us to start normalizing the relationship.”

Additional reporting by the BBCs Bernd Debusmann JR in Washington DC.