Cyril Ramaphosa Doesn’t Expect Mistreatment or Embarrassment During Meeting With Donald Trump

• Cyril Ramaphosa will meet with Donald Trump to discuss his decision to grant Afrikaners refugee status in the USA
• The President of South Africa doesn't expect any moments of embarrassment or mistreatment during the meeting
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently got into a shouting match with Trump during a visit to the USA

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.

GAUTENG – President Cyril plans to have a discussion with Donald Trump about his decision to grant refugee status to a group of Afrikaners.

The President of the United States of America signed an executive order in February 2025, allowing Afrikaners to move to the United States as refugees if they felt threatened in South Africa.

The first group of 49 Afrikaners have already done so, but Ramaphosa argued that they didn’t qualify to be refugees.

Ramaphosa maintains Afrikaners aren't persecuted

Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Monday, 12 May, Ramaphosa noted that he would hold a meeting with Trump to discuss the aftereffects of his order.

The president stated that he already had a telephonic conversation that Afrikaners were not being persecuted in South with Trump, in which he stated that those who claimed to be persecuted were opposed to transformation. He also told the African CEO Forum that a fringe grouping was making the claims, he sometimes informed Trump of.

"I said I'm going to come and meet him so we can discuss this matter further. So those who have fled are not being persecuted, they are not being hounded, they are not being treated badly. They are leaving ostensibly because they don't want to embrace the changes taking place in our country," the president said.

Ramaphosa unsure if Elon Musk would attend meeting

Ramaphosa also stated that he was not sure if Elon Musk would be a part of the discussions between the South African delegation and Trump.

Musk is a close confidant of the US President and has been very critical of the South African government. He’s previously claimed that the country had several racist laws in place, and stated that he wasn’t allowed to operate Starlink in the country because he wasn’t black.

Whether the billionaire is there or not, Ramaphosa confirmed that the South African delegation would hold a meeting and would show that South Africa was one of the only countries in Africa where the former minority powers were embraced and not driven out.

What you need to know about Afrikaners moving to the USA

AfriForum stated that Afrikaners would not be leaving the country despite Trump’s offer.

The SA Chamber of Commerce in the US (SACCUSA) server crashed due to the number of people applying for refugee status.

In March 2025, the US Embassy provided an update on resettlement plans for Afrikaners.

The SA Chamber of Commerce in the US announced that it received over 67,000 applications from Afrikaners for refugee status.

The USA was preparing to welcome the first group of Afrikaner refugees on 11 May 2025.

49 Afrikaners travel to the USA

Briefly News reported that the first group of Afrikaners who took up Trump's offer left the country on 11 May 2025.

The group left the country following claims of white genocide and forced land expropriations.

The government said it respected their freedom of movement, and South Africans shared their views.

Source: Briefly News