South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is making a working visit to Washington this week with the aim of improving relations with US President Donald Trump.

According to Reuters, during the visit Ramaphosa also plans to discuss business opportunities for Elon Musk's companies.

The Trump administration cut off funding to South Africa in February and last week granted refugee status to a group of white South Africans who, it explained, were facing racial discrimination, a claim the South African government denies.

The two heads of state are scheduled to meet on Wednesday. And South African authorities are preparing a trade proposal to present to Trump in order to re-establish the relationship.