South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was surprised by his American

It seems fair to say that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was  surprised by his  American. counterpart's response to a  land expropriation law.
Since Ramaphosa signed the legislation  into law just over two weeks ago, President Donald Trump has  cut off U.S. aid to South Africa (with some exceptions) and offered refugee status to the country's relatively privileged  African minority.
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The government has  denied Trump's  claim that land has been confiscated, saying the law is similar to legislation in other  countries.
Marco Rubio, Trump's secretary of state,  however, has said  he will boycott a  G20 meeting in  Johannesburg, citing the land  law and South Africa's  emphasis on  inequality.
Whatever the  reason — and whether  Trump's South  African-born Elon Musk  had anything to do with it — Pretoria has  had to try to keep its  second-largest trading  partner intact. That includes investments by 600  American companies that generate a  tenth of  the gross domestic product  of Africa's most developed  economy.
And by driving a wedge between the  United States and a  ruling party  in the so-called Global South, Trump is strengthening Beijing's  position. China, South Africa's largest trading partner and a  member of the BRICS, quickly expressed support for Ramaphosa's presidency  of the G20 after Rubio's  resignation.
ALBANY: Ramaphosa  says the nation  is not afraid of the  United States. Source: South African Presidency via Associated  Press
Beyond land expropriation, South Africa has been  negligent in its relations with  the United States. The United States has invited Russian warships to joint military exercises and  has accused US ally  Israel of genocide. The Johannesburg  city council is considering naming the street where the US consulate is  located after Leila Khaled, a Palestinian who hijacked  a US airliner.
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Trump said he had spoken to President Xi Jinping and  that they  had a "very good"  relationship.
However, if the  United States wants to compete with China for control of the world's resources,  the alienation of Africa's largest  mineral deposit is  an odd policy.  Shutting down HIV treatment programs and making baseless claims about land  confiscation is unlikely to win  friends. The uproar over Ramaphosa's signing of the land  bill seems like an example of the law of unintended consequences. The US may  find Trump's response equally important. - Antony Sguazzin

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