'Trump probably thought he was talking to Morgan Freeman': Mzansi on Ramaphosa's ‘very productive’ chat with US pres

24 April 2020 - 11:16 By Unathi Nkanjeni
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President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke with US President Donald Trump on Thursday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke with US President Donald Trump on Thursday.
Image: GCIS

Social media streets have been buzzing since President Cyril Ramaphosa's “productive call” with US President Donald Trump.

Ramaphosa and “His Excellency President” Trump were on the phone discussing their respective countries’ responses to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The call took place on Thursday evening, just before Ramaphosa addressed the nation, announcing that SA would be moved from level 5 lockdown to level 4 from May 1.

“I had a very productive call with His Excellency President Donald Trump of the US of America.

“We discussed the impact of Covid-19 on our two countries. I have passed our condolences to the government and people of the US on the devastation the virus has wrought.”

TimesLIVE reported that Trump pledged support in the fight against Covid-19 to SA and would send “thousands” of ventilators and other equipment to SA. The details are yet to be finalised.

The US embassy also announced, in a statement, that it had committed an additional R250m to SA to help in its Covid-19 efforts, bringing the total value of US aid to South Africa in the crisis to R410m.

According to the embassy, the funding was to support Centres for Disease Control and Prevention operations, along with other lab work and surveillance efforts.

It is also to be used for infection and prevention control, border control, vaccine preparedness and special studies related to Covid-19, to both improve the response in the country and to inform best practices around the globe.

“This latest injection of assistance is in addition to the approximately $8.4m (about R160m) in health assistance to support SA’s Covid-19 response already committed through the US Agency for International Development,” the embassy said.

While there was speculation on social media as to what term Trump used to call SA, apart from “shithole”, Mzansi also took to the Twitter streets with other reactions.

Here is a snapshot of some of them.


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