ABIDJAN (Ivory Coast), May 13 (NNN-SANEWS) — President Cyril Ramaphosa has refuted the classification of a group of South Africans as refugees, who are seeking resettlement in the United States of America.
The President was speaking during a Presidential panel at the African CEO Forum 2025 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on Monday.
He was asked by the panel facilitator, Larry Madowo, about his reaction to the 49 white South African ‘refugees’, who are currently on their way to the United States and will be received by the government of President Donald Trump.
“We’ve raised our own concern because those people who are being enticed to go to the United States do not fit the definition of a refugee. A refugee is someone who has to leave their country out of fear of political persecution, religious persecution or economic persecution, and they don’t fit that bill. They don’t fit that description.
“Those people 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 that are taking place in our country, in accordance with our Constitution,” President Ramaphosa said.
He explained that he clarified to President Trump that these individuals are opposed to constitutional changes and do not represent the majority.
“I had a conversation with President Trump on the phone… [and] I [told him that] what [he has] been told by those people who are opposed to transformation back home in South Africa is not true.
“I told [President Trump] that we were well taught by Nelson Mandela and other iconic leaders like Oliver Tambo on how to continue to build a united nation out of the diverse groupings that we have in South Africa,” President Ramaphosa said.
President Ramaphosa went on to explain that South Africa is the only country on the continent where the colonisers came to settle and were never driven out.
“We are the only country on the continent where the colonisers came to stay, and we have never driven them out of our country…” he said.
President Ramaphosa further emphasised South Africa’s commitment to unity and transformation, as taught by former President Nelson Mandela, and expressed a willingness to meet up with President Trump to discuss the matter further.
“…We intend to proceed with the implementation of our constitutional architecture, and I thought in my conversation with him, early in the morning, at four o’clock South African time, [that President Trump] understood that. I said I’d like to come and meet him so that we can discuss this matter further,” President Ramaphosa said.
He also noted that the US seems to have misunderstood the situation but is open to continued dialogue.
“…We think that the American government has got the wrong end of the stick here, but we’ll continue talking to them,” he said.
When asked whether Elon Musk would be part of his upcoming face-to-face meeting with the Trump administration, President Ramaphosa responded: “Well, I don’t know. They will determine whether Elon Musk is part of it or not. I will go with my own South African delegation.”
The Africa CEO Forum is the leading platform for CEOs of the largest continental and multinational companies, investors, Heads of State and Government, Ministers and representatives of financial institutions.
President Ramaphosa is accompanied by the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe and the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. — NNN-SANEWS