A week after praising US President Donald Trump at a dinner that Africa loved him, South African business tycoon Patrice Motsepe has come down to earth to apologise to his compatriots for the controversial remarks, APA learnt on Wednesday.
Motsepe’s highly embarrassing comments, which went viral on social media in his country, were made at a private dinner Trump hosted during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week.
While most users disagreed with Motsepe, others seemed indifferent to the multibillionaire, a mining magnate who happens to be President Cyril Ramaphosa’s brother-in-law.
Motsepe said in a statement that his remarks were partly aimed at encouraging discussions between the Trump administration and political and business leaders in Africa.
He said this was particularly in the context of the increasing feedback from US leaders that South Africa and other African countries were anti-American.
Trump himself once described Africa as having “s..thole” countries, remarks made in a private setting but never denied when they became public.
The businessman said Africa and America shared the same values, and it was in the interest of the continent to build mutually beneficial socio-political and trade ties between the economies and countries.
Motsepe said he concurred with sentiments shared by some social media users that he had no right to speak on their behalf.
NM/jn/APA