India, May 24 -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's US tour was diplomatically successful, but beneath the polished optics lie stark contradictions: A post-apartheid nation still burdened by deep economic inequality and a liberation movement entangled in neoliberal compromises

South Africa's President and his team-including a considerable cohort of white South Africans, notably Afrikaners - were hosted at the Oval Office by President Trump, immediately following what was hailed as a remarkably successful diplomatic mission to Arab countries, where even Trump himself was bestowed the gift of one Air Force One flight by Qatar-an unprecedented endowment, the largest of its kind ever received by the United States.

In addition to Rama...