‘Diplomatic doors were opened again,’ says Cosatu president after ‘nerve-racking’ meeting with Trump

Zingiswa Losi, the president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) was roped in at the eleventh hour to be a part of the South African delegation that met US President Donald Trump in Washington last week.

After a flight that took nearly 20 hours, she was informed by the Presidency that only seven SA officials could attend the meeting in the White House, which meant she and Adrian Gore, the Discovery CEO and deputy president of Business Unity South Africa, would be excluded.

“I fought and I said, ‘Never, I am not accepting it. Money has been spent for me to come and be a part of a meeting; I did not come here to sit at a hotel; I did not come for a Washington jol.’ I said, ‘Whether I go in as part of the security or what, make a plan,’” Losi told Daily Maverick.

After some negotiating, Losi was able to attend the meeting. She said she cringed when Trump called for a video to be played and made unfounded claims of a genocide of white farmers in South Africa.

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“It was nerve-racking. But also, for me, there was that irritation of the lies being repeated, and I was wondering if we would ever get an opportunity to state our side of the story, the real story of South Africa. I was eager for us to get to that point.”

When President Cyril Ramaphosa gave Losi an opportunity to speak, she delivered a firm rebuttal to Trump’s lies about land expropriation in South Africa and violence against white farmers, making the point that South Africa did not have a race but a crime issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxwRY7UocrA&t=2s&ab_channel=TimesLIVEVideo

“For me, it was two things [that needed to be done]: to speak about trade and to demystify this white genocide. I said to myself, ‘If I can illustrate that there is no white genocide and paint a picture of what was happening in South Africa…

“I felt we were not having that conversation, and I needed to remind ourselves of why we are here.”

Although Trump often interjected and was dismissive of what was being said, Losi said that Ramaphosa “helped us in his demeanour of managing the situation very well. He was very calm about it.”

After the media briefing concluded, Losi said the delegation went on to a closed meeting, which proceeded smoothly.

Objectives achieved

“We achieved the objectives of the meeting. When we went to the lunch meeting, the issue of genocide, the issue of [South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice] never arose. The only issue at the table was the resetting of the relationship between the two nations.”

In April 2025, the Trump administration introduced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports, with South African goods facing a rate of 30%. The decision was expected to have a negative impact on South African exports to the US, such as vehicles, precious metals, machinery and citrus fruit.



Read more: Tariff turmoil: South Africa opts for diplomacy over quick retaliation in trade dispute

“It was us going back on the trade issues, and also President Trump even conceded that you can’t ignore South Africa; he conceded that we must continue now engaging, even on the issue of Agoa [African Growth and Opportunity Act], on the issue of tariffs.”

Losi said relations between South Africa and the US had soured, pointing to various incidents, including the expulsion of South African ambassador Ebrahim Rasool.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Rasool “persona non grata” in a post on X. He called Rasool a “race-baiting politician who hates Trump and hates America” because of remarks Rasool made in a webinar.

Losi said the issue had not been managed through diplomatic channels. She pointed to challenges experienced by her sector in trying to meet with policy officials.

“That team had difficulty even in meeting policy people in Washington. They tried, they managed, but it could not be in the offices, it had to be in restaurants — that’s how hostile it was.”

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Previously, Trump and senior officials in his administration stated they would not attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg from 22-23 November.

However, during the talks, Ramaphosa urged him to reconsider his decision.

“I want to hand over the presidency of the G20 to President Trump in November, and I said he needs to be there. I don’t want to hand over the presidency of the G20 to an empty chair. He is going to give serious consideration to it. In fact, I expect him to be coming to South Africa,” said Ramaphosa.

Losi said that during the closed meeting, Trump said he would attend the meeting.

“So, the diplomatic doors were opened again.” DM