Sa Wants A 'meaningful Deal' With Us - Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has conveyed South Africas intention to establish a comprehensive agreement with the US on diplomacy and trade, despite strained relations.

Tensions have escalated due to disputes over land and foreign policies, resulting in the US freezing nearly all aid and skipping Group of 20 meetings in South Africa.

Speaking at a conference hosted by US bank Goldman Sachs in Johannesburg on Thursday, Ramaphosa expressed his hope for the dust to settle following the executive order, emphasising that his long-term goal is to travel to Washington to mend relations.

We dont want to go and explain ourselves. We want to go and do a meaningful deal with the United States on a whole range of issues, and the signals that were getting are that we need to enable the development of that process to happen - its inevitable that we will get together and do a deal, Ramaphosa said, according to Bloomberg .

The backdrop to Ramaphosas remarks includes a pointed critique of the actions of the Afrikaner rights group AfriForum and the trade union Solidarity, both of which recently visited the US .