A South African billionaire businessman and the first black African on the Forbes billionaires list, Patrice Motsepe has apologized for telling United States President, Donald Trump that “Africa loves you” during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos last week.
However, Patrice Motsepe’s remarks to Trump went viral
on social media and sparked outrage from people who disagreed with Motsepe and
lambasted him for speaking on Africans’ behalf.
In the video, Motsepe can be heard telling Trump during a
group dinner that “Africa loves America. Africa loves you. It is very, very
important. We want America to do well. We want you to do well. The success of
America is the success of the rest of the world.” In response to Motsepe’s
introduction, Trump said: “You’ve done a great job, thank you very much.”
Motsepe’s comments drew criticism even among some South
African cabinet ministers, with Finance Minister Tito Mboweni saying the
billionaire’s views did not represent those of the government. KwaZulu-Natal
province premier Sihle Zikalala was more blunt, saying Trump was not a friend
of the ruling African National Congress party and that South Africa had nothing
to benefit from the U.S. president.
Trump has been criticized for his comments about
Africa, including one comparing African nations to a dirty latrine,
which led to widespread anger from Africans and even heads of state.
In a statement released Tuesday, by Motsepe he said the
debate over his remarks had exposed him to different views. “I have a duty to
listen to these differing views and would like to apologize. I do not have the
right to speak on behalf of anybody except myself,” he said.
Motsepe said his remarks were partly aimed at encouraging
discussions between the Trump administration and African political leaders amid
“increasing feedback from certain American political and business leaders that
South Africa and some African countries are anti-America and its political
leadership.” Motsepe is the brother-in-law of South African President Cyril
Ramaphosa, was attending a dinner of business leaders from around the world
including FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the CEOs of Siemens and Saudi Aramco
and the Ivory Coast-born CEO of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam.
