Hi there 🙋🏾‍♀️ What _didn’t_ happen this week? Presidential ambushes at the White House, a “not austerity” budget that still bites, and of course, South Africa doing what we do best: winning gold 🥇 We also unpack why Diddy might be a free man if he were South African and what that says about our justice system, plus the deadly impact of Trump’s USAID cuts and what South Africa can do to stop the worst. So, let’s dive into these stories and more in this week’s wrap, brought to you by Verashni Pillay and the explain.co.za team. 😄 ________ *Format:* 💬 WhatsApp msg: Keep scrolling 🔊 Voice note by Verashni: https://soundcloud.com/explain-za/ramaphosa-vs-trump-went-better-than-expected-22-may-25 📰 Newsletter with pics: https://createsend.com/t/d-20D753AD5EF992192540EF23F30FEDED ▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ *BRIEFS:* *1. Donald Trump ambushed Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday with videos in the White House* . He was trying to prove that white farmers are being targeted in South Africa. The South African delegation was able to turn things around in a largely impressive performance. More on this later. *2. VAT will remain at 15%* . Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s third budget speech yesterday went off successfully. The only effective tax increase is to the fuel levy, but debt continues to soar. More below. *3. Orlando Pirates made club history on Tuesday.* The Bucs marked their 19th win in a single PSL season. But they remain in second position on the log. Mamelodi Sundowns have already secured this year’s Premiership title, marking their eighth consecutive championship since the 2017/18 season. *4. Former US President Joe Biden, 82, announced last week he’s been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer.* There was an outpouring of support, but renewed scrutiny around cover-ups of his health when he attempted a second run for president last year, which proved disastrous for Democrats. *5. The NPA confirmed on Monday that they will not prosecute anyone in the Cwecwe case.* Cwecwe’s mother alleged her eight-year-old daughter had been sexually assaulted, sparking nationwide protests and a social media uproar. Authorities said there was insufficient evidence. *6. America is experiencing its worst measles outbreak in 30 years.* What began as a handful of cases in Texas in January has now surpassed 1,000 across 30 states. The _Economist_ reports falling vaccination rates and cuts to public health services could make the disease, which was previously eliminated, endemic in the US again. *7. Gazans are on the brink of starvation.* Israel is still blocking food, fuel and aid from reaching over 2 million people, despite pledging not to, drawing strong condemnation from Britain, France and Canada - and the new Pope. *8. A South African submission won a gold medal at the UK’s Chelsea Flower Show this week* . The two oceans-inspired floral garden also received the Lawrence Medal for the best display this calendar year at a Royal Horticultural Society show - a first for South Africa. *9. Celebrated South African jewellery designer Jenna Clifford passed away on Tuesday* . The 65-year-old was diagnosed with advanced-stage cancer earlier this year. Her business, established in 1992, attracted international clients like Celine Dion. *10. A pro-doping sports competition is set for May 2026.* The Enhanced Games encourages the use of performance-enhancing drugs and has already seen one swimmer break a world record. Critics, including the World Anti-Doping Agency, have slammed the games as dangerous, but organisers say these drugs are being used secretly anyway. ▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ *BIG STORIES:* *1. Ramaphosa meets Trump: Golf, gripes, and a not-so-genocidal showdown* President Cyril Ramaphosa met with former US President Donald Trump in Washington yesterday, and let’s just say... it was more dramatic than a telenovela season finale. Trump kicked things off with a curveball: he dimmed the lights and rolled out a video montage of EFF leader Julius Malema singing “Kill the Boer” and crosses purporting to mark white farmer graves (but not really), pushing a long-debunked narrative of a “white genocide” in South Africa. Lekker welcome, right? But Ramaphosa kept his cool. With a powerhouse delegation in tow, including ministers, golfing legends Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and billionaire Johann Rupert, the message was clear: South Africa is here to trade, not throw punches. Also in the room? Elon Musk who’s been chirping about SA’s BEE laws online, but he remained silent. Ramaphosa stressed the strength of US-SA ties, reminded Trump that SA is a democracy, and pointed out that crime affects all citizens, not just white farmers. Steenhuisen, head of the DA and now minister of agriculture, added that most farmers want to stay in SA. Els made some controversial remarks but said he loves SA and wants it to thrive. Rupert, ever the businessman, suggested using Musk’s Starlink in every police station, and delivered possibly the best performance of the delegation, really seeming to get through to Trump. The real goal? Salvaging trade deals like AGOA, which Trump threatened to pull, and reviving US investment. While Trump didn’t budge on his claim that white people are being targeted, he and Ramaphosa found common ground on wanting peace in Ukraine. According to Ramaphosa, during the lunch that followed, Trump may end up attending the G20 in Joburg, despite not being sure in the televised meeting. Also discussed at this “pleasant” lunch: AGOA renewal is on the table and Musk put forward a pitch to bring Tesla to SA. South Africa’s international case against Israel was not discussed. Back home, some South Africans are unimpressed, accusing Ramaphosa of grovelling. But here’s the deal: diplomacy means talking to people you don’t always agree with. And if this awkward handshake stops Trump from throttling SA’s economy, it might just be worth it. *2. Budget 3.0 lands: VAT dodged, cuts made, and a fuel hike snuck in* Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana finally tabled South Africa’s revised national budget – Budget 3.0 – on Wednesday. The big headline? No VAT increase, despite Treasury’s earlier proposal. But that decision came at a cost. The lack of additional revenue “reduced our ability to fund additional government programmes and projects,” said Godongwana. So, where did Treasury tighten its belt? A total of R68 billion in planned funding has been shelved, mostly from “provisional allocations not yet assigned to votes”. That means, technically, no cuts to existing departments, but there’ll be less money to go around in future. Some sectors fared better than others. Departments like Health and Education still receive some support, but R10 billion less than previously allocated. PRASA’s budget drops from R19.2 billion to R12.3 billion – a R6.9 billion cut – likely delaying rail infrastructure upgrades. And Home Affairs? Their smart ID rollout takes a hit, with their expected funding of R3.2 billion over the medium term now down to R965 million. Godongwana insists this isn’t austerity. “It is a redistributive Budget... It directs 61 cents of every rand of consolidated, non-interest expenditure towards the social wage,” he said – that’s things like healthcare, education and grants. But the pot of money is down generally, with GDP growth now expected at just 1.4% in 2025. Our debt will climb even further: repayments cost R1.2 billion a day. The debt-to-GDP ratio will peak at 77.4% next year. This means government will spend 22 cents in each tax rand on debt service costs.” To raise revenue, the fuel levy is making a quiet comeback. From 4 June, petrol goes up by 16c/litre and diesel by 15c/litre – expected to raise around R4 billion. Not nearly as much as the R75 billion a VAT hike would’ve brought in, but every bit helps. Still, Godongwana ended on a hopeful note: “This budget supports economic activity while raising future economic prospects… so future generations are not burdened by the decisions we make today.” *3. Diddy’s on trial. In SA? He might not be* US rapper and mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is finally facing the music. He’s currently on trial for serious charges like racketeering, sex trafficking, kidnapping and essentially, the plot of a grim Netflix series. Prosecutors say he used his empire to run a criminal network, complete with drugs, coercion, blackmail, and those now-notorious “freak offs” (drug-fuelled sex parties involving victims and male sex workers, allegedly filmed without consent). The charges are so serious that Diddy could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted. We wondered: if this happened in South Africa, would it even make it to trial? Not likely, says legal academic Anathi Phela. “On paper, we say there’s equality. But that’s not the reality on the ground,” he told explain, discussing justice for the powerful. We’ve seen it before. In 2006, Fezekile Kuzwayo accused Jacob Zuma of rape. Fearing for her life that she had to leave the country. Zuma was acquitted and later became the president of the country. In 2016, rapper Okmalumkoolkat served time for sexual assault in Australia, yet when he came back home, he was welcomed with open arms. Just last year, rape and assault charges against rapper Jub Jub were dropped. This is despite SA having solid sexual violence laws and the power to impose life sentences. But the stats are bleak: between April 2022 and March 2023, only 410 rapists were arrested, and 68 life sentences were handed down out of over 53,000 reported cases in a year. What’s going wrong? Underfunded courts. Missing dockets. Survivors are too scared or ashamed to report. Our justice system keeps failing the non-powerful because of a variety of factors. And that has to change. *4. HIV care without a safety net: The consequence of US aid cuts* We were warned. When Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this year cutting off a major stream of US HIV funding to South Africa, experts cautioned it could end in catastrophe. That future is now here. Thousands of healthcare workers have been let go, research centres are retrenching staff, and a modelling study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, warns that if the funding gap left by the US isn’t filled, South Africa could see 601,000 additional deaths and 565,000 new HIV infections by 2034. The programme in question? PEPFAR — the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. It’s been a critical partner in South Africa’s HIV fight for over two decades, investing more than $8 billion since 2003. But earlier this year, USAID-managed PEPFAR projects were shut down overnight. CDC-run ones remain — for now. But that funding ends in September 2025, and there’s no guarantee of renewal. The Health Department says it needs R2.82 billion just to get through the rest of the financial year. Untreated HIV leads to serious, costly illnesses. The same study projects a R32 billion increase in healthcare spending over the next decade if funding isn’t restored. And while PEPFAR only covered 17% of the HIV budget in 2024, its role was pivotal — supporting mobile clinics, healthcare workers, and outreach in hard-to-reach communities. Dr Neil Martinson of WITS’s Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU) told explain that the impact is already being felt in the research sphere. “Most of South Africa’s globally recognised HIV researchers have received research training in the US and then NIH research grants in South Africa,” he said. “We at PHRU are retrenching one third of our research staff at the end of May. PHRU is co-author on about 90 manuscripts per year. We think this will reduce by more than 30%.” Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi insists: “Under no circumstances will we allow this massive work... to collapse.” But Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana was blunt: “Once the resources allow, we will deal with that matter.” South Africa’s HIV gains took 20 years to build. They could unravel in half that time. ---------------------- That’s it from us at The Wrap, an award-winning product of explain.co.za - simple news summaries for busy people. 💁🏾‍♀ The Wrap is sponsored by _explain’s_ agency division. We specialise in content marketing for purpose-driven organisations, often with a pan-African reach. Mail [email protected] for a quote. 🇸​🇺​🇧​🇸​🇨​🇷​🇮​🇧​🇪​ Remember to share the love. 💫 Tell your friends to sign up: 📩 Email: http://explain.co.za/subscribe 📲 Our new WhatsApp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vac06yM8kyyLmOulb80J _Till next time, goodbye from the team_ ✌🏽