- Trump Makes Claims About “White Genocide”
- Ramophosa Counters Claims, Refocuses Parley
By Abiola Olawale
A high-stake bilateral meeting between United States President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa turned contentious at the White House, as the two leaders disagreed over claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa.
The discussion, which was held in a diplomatic bid to strengthen and improve bilateral ties, quickly dovetailed when Trump presented a video allegedly protraying “white genocide” to support his claims.
“This is very bad. These are burial sites right here… over a thousand of white farmers and those cars are lined up to pay love on Sunday morning, each one of those white things you see are a cross. There’s approximately a thousand of them, they’re all white farmers,” Trump said during a part of the video.
However, Ramaphosa, visibly displeased, rejected the claims, asserting that the comments in the videos did not reflect South Africa’s official government policy.
“I’d like to know where that is. Because this I’ve never seen,” Ramaphosa reacted to the video.
Ramaphosa also maintained that the speeches are “not government policy”.
He added: “We have a multiparty democracy in South Africa that allows people to express themselves, political parties to adhere to various policies. And in many cases, or in some cases, those policies do not go, align with government policy.
“Our government policy is completely, completely against what he was saying.
“They’re a small minority party which is allowed to exist in terms of our constitution.”
Ramaphosa denied that land was being confiscated and people were being killed. He acknowledged there was crime in the country, but it affects both white and Black residents.
Also, South African Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen, who is white, spoke during the meeting to denounce the language in the video.
He said that the individuals from the clips are leaders of the opposition parties in South Africa and said the Ramaphosa government has made an effort to keep them out of power.
In a counter reaction, Trump rejected Ramaphosa and Steenhuisen’s comments, arguing that the video featured people speaking at “a stadium with a hundred thousand people in it.”
“It’s more than just a little movement, it’s a pretty big movement in South Africa. So, it has to be resolved. It will be the end of the country if it’s not resolved,” Trump added.
On the other hand, Ramaphosa, during the meeting extended his invitation to Trump to attend the Group of 20 summit that will take place in Johannesburg in November.
“I want you to come to South Africa for a state visit. And I also want you to come and participate in the G20, and I want to gladly hand over to President Trump to take the leadership of the G20 forward,” Ramaphosa said.
Recall that the United States had refused to participate in previous G20 meetings at the ministerial level in South Africa earlier this year.
