SA-US relations remain resilient - Lamola

CAPE TOWN - Despite the United States slapping South Africa with 30% trade tariffs, International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola said that the relationship between the two countries remained resilient.

Lamola on Wednesday announced that a US congressional staff delegation would be hosted in South Africa this week. 

But he took exception to a recent US human rights report claiming targeted violence against white farmers, saying it was not based on fact.

Minister Lamola said that government continues to hold various strategic meetings at both political and government levels with the United States. 

This includes a recent meeting he had with the US charge d’affaires David Green, while Deputy Minister Alvin Botes held a video conference with the US deputy secretary of state, Christopher Landau, to discuss trade and geopolitical issues.

On Saturday, President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke to US President Donald Trump over the phone. 

Lamola said that the country’s laws were also being explained in these interactions. 

"On domestic matters ranging from broad-based economic empowerment and the Expropriation Act, we have reiterated that these are matters which are firmly within the grasp of the South African people and are continuously being debated and assessed."

Lamola said official crime statistics did not bear out the false claims made in the US Human Rights Report 2024 that farm-related violence was directed towards a single race group only.