GCIS
European Union and South African leaders were set to hold talks on Thursday on deepening cooperation, at a time when both are grappling with aid and trade threats from the new US administration.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was to meet European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, in Cape Town.
Among the issues on the table will be "the need for strengthened multilateralism in order to respond to common global challenges", the Council of the European Union said ahead of the talks.
Both sides are grappling with dramatic policy shifts from Washington since the return of US President, Donal Trump to the White House in January.
In a deepening EU-US trade row, Washington has imposed tariffs of 25 percent on steel and aluminium imports from the 27-nation bloc, leading the European Commission to vow to impose countermeasures from April 1.
Trump's government has targeted the South African government, freezing crucial aid and criticising several of its policies.
The United States has also pulled out of a climate funding deal to help developing countries transition to clean energy, one of the main beneficiaries of which is South Africa.
The Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETP) would be discussed at the Cape Town summit, an EU official said.
