By Tim Cocks and Alexander Winning

Former Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas gestures ahead of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry probing state capture in Johannesburg, South Africa August 24, 2018. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

JOHANNESBURG, July 17 (Reuters) – South Africa’s main coalition partners are embroiled in a spat over how to respond to looming tariffs from a hostile Trump administration, after the smaller party said the president’s aide was denied a U.S. visa to negotiate with Washington.

The Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday that the United States had formally rejected President Cyril Ramaphosa’s chosen interlocutor, Mcebisi Jonas, and had denied him a diplomatic visa in May.

The DA provided no evidence for the claim, which its leading international relations official Emma Louise Powell repeated in a statement on Thursday.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, in a response, did not say whether Jonas had been denied a visa.

“President Ramaphosa has not had a need for Mr. Jonas to visit the United States on urgent business,” he said in a statement.

He added that Jonas had been working in the background with the trade and foreign ministries. Since his appointment in April, the government has not mentioned Jonas as having met with any U.S. officials.

He was not part of a delegation that travelled to Washington in May, a trip during which U.S. President Donald Trump assailed Ramaphosa in the Oval Office with false claims of mass killings of white South African farmers.

Magwenya declined to comment further when Reuters contacted him on Thursday. Jonas did not immediately respond to a text message requesting comment. The U.S. embassy in Pretoria did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Washington’s 30% tariff for South Africa kicks in on August 1. Central bank governor Lesetja Kganyago warned on Wednesday that it could trigger 100,000 job losses.

Ramaphosa’s African National Congress is furious that the white-led DA, which like Trump has criticised South Africa’s racial diversity policies, made an independent visit to the United States earlier this year to plead the country’s case to U.S. politicians.

The erstwhile enemies forged an unlikely coalition after the ANC lost its outright majority in elections last year. But they have clashed over equity laws, education policy and the budget, which the DA has held up on grounds of corruption and waste.

Ramaphosa fired a DA deputy minister for failing to get permission to take part in the U.S. trip.

“As the ANC continues to engage with … the likes of Russia and Iran, the DA will continue to … engage with the international community of democracies,” Powell said in a statement defending the DA’s U.S. trip on Thursday.

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Tim Cocks has reported from all over Africa for Reuters for the past two decades (aside from a stint covering the Iraq war in 2008/9). In his current role, he covers politics, climate change, diplomacy and human interest. Previously he was bureau chief for West & Central Africa. A story on the environmental disaster of Ghana’s artisanal gold mining won him a SABEW award for best feature in 2019. He is also the author of ‘Lagos:Supernatural City’, an intimate portrait of the life in Africa’s biggest metropolis.

Alexander edits breaking news and is head of speed for Sub-Saharan Africa. Previously he was a senior correspondent focused on Southern Africa and correspondent in Russia. Prior to joining Reuters in 2013, he worked at The Moscow Times newspaper.

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