Ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s meeting with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, lobby group Solidarity said it expects Ramaphosa to offer the US a new trade agreement with a favourable tariff regime.

Solidarity called on Ramaphosa to “do everything possible” to restore diplomatic relations with the US, noting that a policy change is essential to satisfy the US and to put South Africa on a growth path.

Relations between the US and South Africa have been strained since early this year, with Trump ending funding for critical health programmes owing to his disapproval of South Africa’s land policies and its case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.

The Solidarity Movement and its sister organisation, AfriForum, made a trip to the US earlier this year, to discuss concerns regarding South Africa’s policies, such as its land policies.

The organisation was criticised for this move, with many blaming AfriForum, Solidarity and the Solidarity Movement for creating a campaign of misinformation that led to Trump cutting funding to South Africa.

The organisations have instead blamed the African National Congress (ANC) and its policies for the state of relations between the US and South Africa.

Solidarity CE Dr Dirk Hermann wants government to implement the “necessary policy changes” to make the country more investment-friendly while it restores diplomatic relations with America.

“President Ramaphosa indicated yesterday that he intends to focus on trade and economic matters during the meeting with President Trump. However, this will not be possible if the political disputes over South Africa’s domestic and foreign policy are not addressed,” said Hermann.

He said ordinary working people want to see economic growth, job security, and job creation.

“Our members are looking for work and are not interested in the ideological games of the African National Congress and the government. We call on President Ramaphosa to act as a statesman and place the country above ANC ideology,” he added.

Hermann said Solidarity also wanted Ramaphosa to announce that government would begin phasing out racial laws.

This, he said included exempting international companies from these laws, which he said limited economic growth and job creation.

Solidarity wants Ramaphosa to secure and protect property rights, to actively introduce plans for combating crime and to declare certain crimes – such as farm attacks – as a priority crime and to establish a specialist unit to investigate them.

The organisation also wants Ramaphosa to commit to a policy of “true diplomatic non-alignment”, which would entail rethinking South Africa’s foreign policy and “ceasing anti-Western actions” and commit to the protection and promotion of the rights of minorities in South Africa.

Hermann said no economic agreement would be possible without first reaching a political agreement with the Trump administration.