WATCH | 'I was bemused': Ramaphosa reacts to Trump's 'dim the lights' at White House

President Cyril Ramaphosa says he was surprised when US President Donald Trump pulled the “dim the lights” move during their meeting in the White House last week.

During the meeting, Trump asked for the lights to be turned down and presented videos to prove his narrative of white genocide in South Africa.

Addressing the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium in Cape Town on Tuesday, Ramaphosa jokingly said when the lights went out, it reminded him of a similar incident at the White House.

“When I came in, I saw the room going a bit dark and for a moment I wondered, what is this? It’s happening to me again,” he laughed.

“Because at that moment we were seated nicely and I was beginning to get into the groove of interacting with this man. Then I suddenly heard him say, 'dim the lights'. I must say a number of people have said this was an ambush and I was bemused. I was like, what’s happening?”

Ramaphosa and his delegation went to the US last week in an effort to reset the strategic relationship between South Africa and the US and to dispel misinformation about South Africa, particularly regarding land reform and violence against white farmers.

Shortly after engaging the media, Trump ambushed Ramaphosa and his delegation with videos of EFF leader Julius Malema chanting “Kill the Boer” and a video of “burial sites of white farmers”, catching them off-guard. While the videos were playing, Ramaphosa looked as if he wasn't expecting to see those clips.

Despite that, Ramaphosa said his working visit to the US was a success.

“While this was a necessary conversation, the overarching aim of our visit was to deepen our strategic economic partnership with the US as our second-largest trading partner.

“South Africa has always regarded the US as a strong investment and trading partner. Our countries and our economies are bound together in many ways. We went to Washington to establish a basis for greater economic co-operation and to address some of the challenges that have recently arisen in relations between our two countries.”

TimesLIVE