Jacob Zuma Criticises Cyril Ramaphosa’s Meeting With Donald Trump, SA Jokes About Him and the Guptas

• Jacob Zuma criticised Cyril Ramaphosa's meeting with Donald Trump on 21 May 2025 at the White House
• The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party leader said that Americans should not be fixing South Africa's problems
• South Africans were amused by Zuma's comments, with many saying he ran to the Guptas with the country's issues

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.

KWAZULU-NATAL – Jacob Zuma has thrown shade at Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent visit to the United States of America.

The South African President met with the US President on 21 May 2025 at the White House, in a bid to ease diplomatic tensions between the two nations.

Tensions have been strained between South Africa and the US ever since Donald Trump falsely claimed that terrible things were happening in the country. Trump alleged that land was being taken by the government and that some citizens were being treated badly.

Zuma doesn’t want Americans involved in South Africa’s problems

Speaking to uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party supporters in KwaMaphumulo, on Saturday, 31 May, Zuma criticised the meeting.

The MK Party leader told supporters at the gathering south of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) that South Africa should fix its own problems.

"You can go to America for all we care, but we refuse to have our problems fixed by Americans we don’t even know. We want to fix our own problems," the former State President said.

What you need to know about the meeting

• Ramaphosa met with Trump in the Oval Office in the White House for a highly anticipated bilateral meeting.
• Trump showed videos of Julius Malema singing the Kill the Boer chant as proof of white genocide in the country.
• Ramaphosa stated that talks would continue between the United States and South Africa in the future following the meeting.
• Ramaphosa said he expects that US President Donald Trump will attend the G20 summit in South Africa.
• Ramaphosa believes that Trump has doubts about the white genocide in South Africa after the meeting.

South Africans amused by Zuma’s statement

Social media users weighed in on Zuma’s comments, with many joking that Ramaphosa was in the USA to fix problems originally caused by the former president.

Others humorously noted that Zuma had the Guptas fix the country’s problems when he was in charge.

Ramonyathi Moses asked:

“So, should our problems be fixed by the Gupta brothers? I am glad that he is no longer the president.”

Janine van Dyk questioned:

“Because Zuma was so good at fixing problems?😆”

Daniel Portovedo Martins stated:

“But he had his buddies, the Guptas, fixing everything in South Africa.”

Richard Peebles added:

“You created a vast majority of the problems. The only thing you fixed is the Guptas' bank accounts.”

Lesley Wallace said:

“The pot calling the kettle black.”

Lorraine Swanepoel added:

“Zuma, you don’t have solutions for the problems; you just cause more problems. You just sold out our country to the Guptas because of your greediness.”

Themba Mncono noted:

“Problems that he started with the Guptas, and then they left this country in a mess.”

Economic Freedom Fighters unhappy with the meeting

It isn't just Zuma that was unhappy with the meeting, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were not as well.

Briefly News said that the party criticised the engagement, saying that it was used to make fun of Julius Malema.

The party was not happy with Trump playing videos of Malema in the White House while Ramaphosa said nothing.

Source: Briefly News