South Africa coalition strained after trade envoy fails to visit US

South Africa's main coalition partners are embroiled in a dispute over how to respond to looming tariffs from Trump's administration, after the smaller party said the president's aide was denied a US visa to negotiate with Washington.

The Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday that the United States had formally rejected President Cyril Ramaphosa's chosen interlocutor, Mcebisi Jonas, and had denied him a diplomatic visa in May.

The DA provided no evidence for the claim, which its leading international relations official Emma Louise Powell repeated in a statement on Thursday.

In response, the spokesperson of the presidency, Vincent Magwenya, did not reveal whether Jonas had been denied a visa.

Not part of delegation to US in May 2025

"President Ramaphosa has not had a need for Mr. Jonas to visit the United States on urgent business," he said in a statement.

He added that Jonas had been working in the background with the trade and foreign ministries. Since his appointment in April, the government has not mentioned Jonas as having met with any US officials.

He was not part of a delegation that travelled to Washington in May, a trip during which US President Donald Trump assailed Ramaphosa in the Oval Office with claims of "white genocide" in South Africa.

Magwenya declined to comment further when Reuters contacted him on Thursday. Jonas did not immediately respond to a text message requesting comment. The US embassy in Pretoria did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fears of job losses

Washington's 30% tariff for South Africa kicks in on August 1. Central Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago warned on Wednesday that it could trigger 100,000 job losses.

Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC) is disappointed that DA party made an independent visit to the United States earlier this year to plead the country's case to US politicians.

ANC and DA forged an unlikely coalition after the ANC lost its outright majority in elections last year. But they have clashed over equity laws, education policy and the budget.

Ramaphosa fired a DA deputy minister for failing to get permission to take part in the US trip.