Ramaphosa To Trump: We Will Not Be Bullied

President Cyril Ramaphosa

In a rare show of defiance, an emboldened President Cyril Ramaphosa strongly rebuked his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, a pathological liar of note, telling him in no uncertain terms that SA will not be bullied.

In his state of the nation address (Sona) in Cape Town on Thursday night (February 6), Ramaphosa chastised the leader of the world's largest economy for interferring in our domestic affairs, saying: "We are witnessing the rise of nationalism and protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests and the decline of common cause. This is the world that we, as a developing economy, must now navigate.

“But we are not daunted. We will not be deterred. We are a resilient people. 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.”

Ramaphosa’s defiant stance against Trump follows tumultuous weeks for the country, marked by the deaths of our 14 brave soldiers in the hands of M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, highlighting ongoing instability in the region. Tensions further escalated when Rwandan President Paul Kagame bodly dared Ramaphosa - who he called a liar - to bring it on if he preferred "confrontation" over the matter. Rwanda has denied mounting accusations it backs the M23 rebels.

On the global stage, Trump issued an executive order against SA on Friday (February 7), purely on the basis of lies, misinformation and misguided propaganda from Afrikaner rights group, Afriforum, that there is ongoing genocide of white farmers in the country.

In the executive order, Trump lied that SA's land expropriation law enables the government to seize "ethnic minority Afrikaners' agricultural property without compensation".

"In addition, South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements," said Trump, who offered Afrikaners refugee status in the U.S.

The department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco) said it is of great concern that the foundational premise of the executive order "lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognise South Africa's profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid".

"We are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation. It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favour among decision-makers in the United States of America," Dirco said.

"It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship. We reiterate that South Africa remains committed to finding diplomatic solutions to any misunderstandings or disputes."

As a precursor to the executive order, Trump had lied that SA is “confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY”.

“I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!” Trump’s rant followed Ramaphosa's decision to sign into law the Epropriation Act, which the far-left EFF describes as a watered-down version of what they are advocating for.

Business Unity SA, which represents big business in the country, issued a statement in which it sought to ally fears around the piece of legislation, saying the act in its present form, “incorporates sufficient checks and balances to prevent the arbitrary expropriation of land without compensation”. Concerns that the law opens the door to land grabs “are unwarranted”.

Trump is a loud mouth who has taken it upon himself to bully developing countries to kowtow to the White House's dictates by threatening to cut development aid/funding. As president-elect in December 2024, Trump issued a strong warning that the idea of the Brics countries moving away from the dollar “while we stand by and watch” would not be accepted.

“We require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new Brics currency nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar, or they will face 100% tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful US economy. They can go find another ‘sucker’!”

Trump made it clear that Brics countries — including SA — would not trade with the United States if the bloc tried to replace the dollar with a Brics currency or backed any other currency to replace the “might U.S. dollar”.

U.S. President Donald Trump

During the Sona on Thursday, Ramaphosa stressed that South Africans “stand for peace and justice, for equality and solidarity”. SA’s theme for the G20 Presidency, which runs from December 24 to November 25 are “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability”, crucial principles Trump and his cronies in the White House do not stand for.

“We stand for non-racialism and democracy, for tolerance and compassion. We stand for equal rights for women, for persons with disability and for members of the LGBTQI+ community. We stand for our shared humanity, not for the survival of the fittest,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa must be applauded for standing up to the inconsiderate bully that is Trump. He has been patient enough with this polarising and divisive figure for far too long. Trump has been granted excessive freedom to speak however he pleases when addressing his counterparts or global multilateral organisations like the UN. He is rude, uncouth and his conduct unbecoming of a head of state.

On the eve of the Sona address on Thursday, U.S. secretary of state, Marco Rubio, posted on X (Twitter) that he won't be attending the G20 summit in SA's economic and financial hub of Johannesburg.

Marco Rubio's tweet on SA

South Africa’s deepening ties with China, the world’s second-largest economy, seem to have rubbed U.S. bureaucrats up the wrong way. Senator Ted Cruz posted on X recently that the SA government “seems to be going out of their way to alienate the United States and our allies”.

“Their timeline to expel our Taiwanese allies from Pretoria is deeply troubling, undermines the national security interests of America and our allies, and will deepen tensions between the U.S. and South Africa,” he posted on X.

“I intend to use my position as the chairman of the Africa subcommittee on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to investigate these and other concerning decisions by South Africa.”

In 2024, SA demanded Taiwan relocate its de facto embassy from the administrative capital Tshwane (formerly Pretoria) to the financial and economic hub of Johannesburg, a directive Taiwan defiantly refuses to follow.

China views Taiwan as a breakaway or a renegade province which needs to be reunified with mainland China as part of its One China policy which SA recognises. 

Cyril Ramaphosa and Xi Jinping

Back to the Trump administration. Trump needs to understand that SA is a sovereign state and will not be micromanaged from Washington D.C. SA has the right to pass its laws and choose who its friends are, without outside interference. SA respects the United States' foreign policy on Israel, despite its disdain for the country it describes as an apartheid state for its human rights violations against Palestinians.

Just recently, Trump wined and dined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, before subsequently signing an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC) for "targeting" the U.S. and its allies such as Israel.

The ICC in November 2024 issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity amid Israel's ongoing war with Hamas. Connected the dots?

Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump

It is, therefore, downright disgraceful and childishly clumsy that a superpower like the U.S. bases its global diplomacy on social media lies and misinformation. But we must look at Trump for who he truly is: a bully who espouses borderline Nazism and its ideology of “taking over” sovereign states. 

First, he wanted Canada, then Greenland, Panama and now Gaza. Trump told a news conference on Wednesday (February 5): "The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We'll own it."

This is rich coming from someone who is against SA’s Expropriation Act, aimed at allowing the state to expropriate land in the public interest, subject to just and equitable compensation. I believe that tech billionaire Elon Musk, who grew up in SA, is equally to blame for whispering all sorts of lies, misinformation and nonsense in Trump’s ear. 

Elon Musk and Donald Trump

But if Musk truly values truth and integrity, he should remind Trump that SA's democracy was hard-won, its sovereignty non-negotiable, and its future firmly in the hands of its people—not subject to the whims of foreign powers or billionaires with misplaced influence.