South African Correspondent
A high-stakes meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa devolved into a contentious exchange on Wednesday, with Trump doubling down on debunked claims of a “white genocide” and demanding action against the alleged persecution of Afrikaner farmers.
The Oval Office meeting, intended to mend strained U.S.-South Africa relations, took a sharp turn when Trump played a video featuring opposition leader Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party chanting “Shoot the Boer [farmer]” and displayed images of roadside crosses purportedly marking graves of murdered white farmers.
The crosses, however, were part of a 2020 protest exhibit symbolizing historical farm killings, not actual burial sites.
“If there was a genocide, these three gentlemen would not be here,”
Ramaphosa countered, gesturing to white South African delegates in the room, including golf legends Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. He emphasized that Malema’s rhetoric does not reflect government policy and condemned criminal violence affecting all races.
Trump interrupted, alleging,
“You do allow them to take land, and then when they take the land, they kill the white farmer, and nothing happens.”
Ramaphosa firmly denied the claim, clarifying that no land seizures have occurred under South Africa’s contentious expropriation law, which permits state land acquisition without compensation in limited cases.
Disputed Claims and Diplomatic Tensions
Trump’s focus on farm attacks echoed right-wing narratives of “white genocide,” which a South African court dismissed earlier this year as “clearly imagined.”
Official crime data reveals that of nearly 10,000 murders recorded between October and December 2024, only 12 occurred in farm attacks, with most victims being Black employees or dwellers.
The meeting followed the U.S. granting asylum to 59 white South Africans, whom Ramaphosa previously labeled “cowards.”
Tensions have simmered since South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ and its land reform law, which Trump criticized as harmful to bilateral ties. In February, he suspended aid to South Africa and offered refuge to Afrikaners.
Reactions: “A Trap Set to Humiliate”
EFF leader Julius Malema mocked the encounter on social media, calling it “a group of older men gossiping about me,” and vowed no compromise on land reform.
Patrick Gaspard, former U.S. ambassador to South Africa, condemned the meeting as “truly embarrassing,” accusing Trump of orchestrating a “trap to humiliate” Ramaphosa.
Kallie Kriel, CEO of Afrikaner advocacy group AfriForum, acknowledged using similar protest footage but denied creating Trump’s video.
“There are real issues to address,” he said, urging an end to “denialism” about farm violence.
Broader Stakes
Ramaphosa had aimed to lobby against steep U.S. tariffs set to resume in July, critical for South Africa’s exports. Instead, the dialogue was overshadowed by Trump’s confrontational stance. The South African leader invoked Nelson Mandela’s legacy of reconciliation, stressing,
“We are committed to unity, not division.”
As the leaders sparred, Ramaphosa avoided direct confrontation, unlike Ukraine’s Zelensky during a February clash with Trump. Yet the fallout underscores deepening fractures between the nations, compounded by March’s expulsion of South Africa’s U.S. ambassador over accusations of Trump “promoting white victimhood.”
The meeting concluded without tangible agreements, leaving unresolved trade disputes and heightened diplomatic rancor in its wake.
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