News24 | SA will not be ‘bowing its head’: Ramaphosa hits back at US visa restrictions

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House on 21 May 2025.

Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images

• President Cyril Ramaphosa reaffirmed South Africa’s commitment to safeguarding its sovereignty while engaging with the US amid strained relations.
• The US recently announced visa restrictions targeting South African nationals linked to discrimination, land seizures, or violence, but no names were disclosed.
• Ramaphosa emphasised respectful dialogue and mutual trade benefits as key to resolving challenges with the US.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa will continue to safeguard its sovereignty as it engages with the US.

Ramaphosa also told journalists on the sidelines of the ANC veterans’ league golf day at the Country Club Johannesburg in Woodmead on Monday that his government had noted that the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, had announced visa restrictions on certain individuals.

Last week, the US announced a visa restriction policy aimed at specific African foreign nationals and their family members deemed responsible for or complicit in race-based discrimination, uncompensated land seizures, or the incitement of violence.

Ramaphosa also noted that no names had been given yet by the US.

“As the South African government, we continue to safeguard our sovereignty as a nation, but at the same time we are quite willing and prepared to continue engaging with the US as we engage with all the other countries in the world,” he said.

Ramaphosa said that where there were challenges, South Africa would go in with its dignity and sovereignty to engage with those countries, without “bowing its head”, “treating those nations respectfully, and expecting them to treat us respectfully as well”.

He said the US was an important market for South Africa, and therefore Pretoria was prepared to engage and negotiate with that country to find a solution to the challenges the relationship now faced.

“And we are prepared as always to respond to whatever issues they have to raise, and we also trade with them, and there are certain things or products that they need from us, that we also need from them, and that should bring about the state of equilibrium. As we deal with each other as states that respect each other, we will find solutions,” Ramaphosa said.

Relations between Washington and Pretoria have been strained for a while; however, under the second Trump administration, that relationship deteriorated into an open diplomatic crisis involving the expulsion of the South African ambassador, the suspension of aid, heavy economic tariffs, and now, the most recent visa restrictions.

Asked what had led to the latest salvo from the US, Ramaphosa said: “The discussions between the US and South Africa have been going on for quite a while on trade issues, tariff issues and on the so-called five issues that they have raised. We have been giving them the response on a number of them, so I just don’t know what happened; only they can answer and say what exactly happened.”