President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: GCIS
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya has confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa will not meet with AfriForum and Solidarity.
AfriForum and Solidarity have been lobbying the United States’ (US) support in dealing with farm murders and other government policies it claims have been marginalising those it represents.
In one of the tours in 2019, AfriForum and Solidarity said their meetings with US representatives had been successful.
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“It is our aim to get the American government, politicians and influential voices in the media to take a public stand about the situation in South Africa and to place diplomatic pressure on the South African government to protect property rights and act consistently against violent crime. The tour has been a huge success to date.”
The group’s latest tour in the US was in July last year.
Following his move to the White House, US President Donald Trump has signed executive orders targeting several countries.
In Africa, South Africa was singled out for “doing very bad things” and “violating human rights against certain groups of people”.
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“Because of this, I will be cutting off all aid to South Africa until further notice,” said Trump last week.
Amid a backlash against AfriForum and Solidarity and accusations of peddling lies about matters in South Africa, the organisations said they would seek a meeting with Trump and Ramaphosa.
On Trump, they wanted to push for the punishment of ANC leaders, not the country.
“We’re willing to have honest discussions with Ramaphosa and Trump about the state of the country and communities and commit to conveying facts correctly and responsibly. The solution is that international assistance in South Africa should continue, and that is a proposal that we will put to the US government,” said Solidarity CEO Dirk Hermann during a media briefing over the weekend.
The organisations said they were not to blame for the executive orders against the country.
“The leadership of the ANC must bear the full blame for the American president, Donald Trump’s statement that he will cease funding to South Africa.
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“AfriForum also argues that the Presidency, the ANC, and their allies’ attempts to blame AfriForum for Trump’s statements is a clear attempt from Ramaphosa and the ANC to try to exculpate themselves from the negative consequences of their own thoughtless, extremist policy courses and actions.”
Speaking to SABC News following Tuesday’s State of the Nation (Sona) debate, Magwenya said the president would not honour AfriForum and Solidarity’s meeting requests.
“In 2018, AfriForum engaged in an international tour in which they peddled lies about South Africa. They misrepresented our country and laws and did so deliberately. Prior to that tour, they did not seek an audience with the president. It’s not clear why they’re seeking an audience with the president now, but I can tell you categorically, the president will not meet with them,” Magwenya said.
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However, AfriForum said it had “tried very hard through conversations with Ramaphosa and the ANC” to find solutions to the Expropriation Act and the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act.
“Despite Ramaphosa’s disregard for these attempts, AfriForum’s view remains that the country and, therefore, ordinary people must not be punished for Ramaphosa and the ANC’s actions.”
Magwenya said the South African government believes the US government knows exactly what is going on in the country — that there are no land seizures and white genocide.
The government will engage with the US government to determine the “real” problems.
“We’re still looking forward to an opportunity to engage with the Trump administration to understand the actual issue because we believe that they know that there are no land seizures in South Africa and that they know the truth,” said Magwenya.
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“We’re hoping that at some point we will be able to have that conversation, and the real issues will be placed on the table instead of the peddling of lies.
“There is no tension from our side. The tension is coming from their side, and it has escalated. It is in both our interests to defuse the tensions. This relationship benefits both countries.”
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