South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appeared to respond to threats from U.S. counterpart Donald Trump by saying in his annual speech to the nation Thursday that his country would "not be bullied." The comment by Ramaphosa was seen as a reaction to Trump's pledge to cut all funding to South Africa over a new land expropriation law — although Ramaphosa did not mention Trump by name.

South Africa's rand firmed on Friday after President Cyril Ramaphosa said his government would launch a second wave of reforms to try to boost economic growth. At 1531 GMT, the rand traded at 18.37 against the U.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke with Elon Musk a day after U.S. President Donald Trump promised to cut the country's funding over a land expropriation law