The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) condemns in the strongest terms the disgraceful deception of the South African public by President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation during their recent meeting with Donald Trump in Washington. What was presented as a diplomatic engagement has now been unmasked as a covert operation to surrender South Africa’s already-weak transformation policies to the global billionaire elite.
We were never fooled by the so-called “genocide” of white South Africans or the exaggerated hysteria over land expropriation without compensation. These narratives were deliberately fabricated as scare tactics—a smokescreen for a backroom deal whose true objective has now been exposed by Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatjie, who announced that government will ease the 30% Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) requirement to facilitate the entry of Elon Musk’s Starlink into the South African market.
This confirms our long-held suspicion: the meeting with Trump was never about diplomacy or mutual respect—it was a calculated ploy to sell out South Africa’s economic sovereignty to foreign billionaire interests. The delegation, stacked with praise-singers, corporate elites, and golfers, served only to mask a staggering act of betrayal. In any credible democracy, such conduct would trigger the immediate resignation of the President and the ministers involved.
Donald Trump is the political embodiment of global plutocracy. During his presidency, he presided over a regime that shamelessly enriched his billionaire friends:
- Stephen Schwarzman (Blackstone) saw his wealth nearly double due to financial deregulation.
- Sheldon Adelson, a megadonor, reaped rewards through policy shifts and diplomatic moves aligned with his business empire.
- Carl Icahn, a Trump advisor, profited handsomely from early regulatory rollbacks.
- Elon Musk, despite some public friction with Trump, benefited from a deregulated business environment that boosted Tesla’s global position.
Today, Trump continues to play the role of imperialist-in-chief:
- He has threatened to seize the Gaza Strip and forcibly relocate 2 million Palestinians to Yemen and Egypt—a genocidal fantasy.
- He has issued veiled threats to reclaim the Panama Canal, violating Panamanian sovereignty.
- He has outrageously suggested that Canada should become the 51st state of the United States—a flagrant provocation against a sovereign nation.
This is not diplomacy—this is 21st century recolonisation. And the South African government, instead of resisting, is rolling out the red carpet.
Minister Malatjie’s readiness to abolish the 30% requirement—even before the delegation had returned—proves this deal was pre-arranged and coordinated. Starlink is merely the first domino. Once the 30% equity rule falls for Musk, it will fall for all. This marks the effective dismantling of B-BBEE through foreign capitalist pressure.
Let us be clear: SAFTU does not support the current B-BBEE model. It has created a tiny black elite while the vast majority of black South Africans remain poor, unemployed, and excluded. But the answer is not to capitulate to billionaires—the answer is to demand a real socialist transformation of the economy, based on worker ownership and democratic planning.
SAFTU demands:
- Full public disclosure of all agreements reached during the Washington visit.
- Immediate reversal of the decision to drop the 30% B-BBEE requirement for Starlink or any other corporation.
- A parliamentary inquiry into the conduct and mandate of the Ramaphosa delegation.
- Mass mobilisation to resist this new wave of economic imperialism and defend South Africa’s sovereignty.
This was not foreign policy. This was an imperialist operation dressed up in diplomatic clothing. The working class must rise in defence of the country’s independence—and we will not be silent while our future is auctioned to the highest bidder.
A Statement was issued on behalf of SAFTU by General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.