South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday that the results of the United States midterm elections would usher in a new era in world relations.

Millions of voters delivered a scathing rebuke to President Donald Trump amid the souring relations between South Africa and the U.S.

This week, Mr Trump’s administration moved to end South Africa’s duty-free access to the U.S. market after cutting financial aid last year and expelling its previous ambassador to Washington.

Mr Trump has targeted the country largely due to what he says is its persecution of white people, which South Africa says is a false narrative spread by fringe groups.

Mr Ramaphosa told reporters after casting his vote that “we have seen that the Democrats have taken control of the Senate and of the House, and the people of America have spoken.‌ I do think that this is going to introduce a new era in world relations.’’

Mr Ramaphosa said Monday’s announcement that South Africa would be suspended from Washington’s AGOA trade initiative from January “is indeed a negative for us” and that the focus should be on negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the U.S.

“Whilst we are sad that we’ve been removed from AGOA, our trade relations with the United States continue,” he added.

Mr Ramaphosa said South Africa had been working to secure new export markets and “diversification has now become the order of the day”.

(Reuters/NAN)