President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africans will not “bow” their heads as they engage the United States on Washington’s controversial decision to impose targeted travel restrictions on senior Pretoria officials.
The US earlier this month announced targeted visa restrictions against unnamed officials whom President Donald Trump’s administration accused of race-based discrimination and incitement of violence against white South Africans.
Ramaphosa told journalists in Johannesburg that Pretoria would continue to defend its sovereignty and dignity in negotiations to have the travel restrictions removed.
“We are quite willing and prepared to continue engaging with the United States as we engage with all other countries in the world,” he said.
“Where there are challenges, we will go in with our dignity, with our sovereignty to engage with those countries without bowing our heads and treating those nations respectfully and expecting them to treat us also respectfully.”
The US government has made several unverified claims against South Africa since Trump returned to the White House last year.
These included allegations of “white genocide” in South Africa in which Washington has claimed that white South Africans are being targeted and killed.
Analysts, however, say the claims are the Trump administration way of retaliating against South Africa’s decision to take Israel – a key US ally – to the International Court of Justice over alleged genocide being committed by the Zionist state against Palestinians.
JN/APA