Washington, D.C. [US], May 22 (ANI): During a high-profile meeting at the White House on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with controversial and widely discredited claims that white South Africans—particularly Afrikaner farmers—are being systematically murdered and dispossessed of their land. According to The Hill, Trump cited advocacy videos, inflammatory political rhetoric, and symbolic memorials to support what experts and South African officials have called a baseless narrative.
In an exchange described as tense, Trump reportedly played a nearly four-minute video provided by Afrikaner advocacy groups. The video featured clips of Julius Malema, leader of the radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, whom Trump identified as a major instigator of violence. He suggested Malema should be arrested for inciting unrest and accused the South African government of allowing land seizures and farmer killings to continue unchecked.
“They’re having their land taken, and in many cases, they’re being killed,” Trump asserted, also referencing the Witkruis Monument—a field of white crosses erected to symbolize victims of farm attacks. However, the monument is a symbolic site that commemorates all victims of rural violence, not just white farmers.
Trump’s administration has come under scrutiny for allowing expedited refugee and citizenship access for Afrikaner farmers, a move that contradicts its typically hardline stance on immigration. Critics argue that this policy shift reflects political ideology more than evidence-based governance.
President Ramaphosa, a veteran anti-apartheid activist who served under Nelson Mandela and assumed the presidency in 2018, responded firmly and diplomatically. He rejected the genocide narrative, emphasizing South Africa’s constitutional protections for all political voices, including opposition figures like Malema.
“Our government policy is completely, completely against what you were saying, even in the Parliament,” Ramaphosa said, reiterating that Malema’s EFF is a minor opposition party and that crime in South Africa affects all racial groups, not just white farmers.
As The Hill reports, no international body has validated claims of a white genocide in South Africa. South Africa’s 2024 crime statistics record 6,032 murders nationwide—44 of which occurred on farms and only one involving a farmer. The government does not categorize victims by race, contradicting Trump’s implication of racial targeting.
Trump also referenced recent land reform laws passed by South Africa’s Parliament to address historical apartheid-era land dispossession. While critics like Elon Musk have cited these laws to support fears of persecution against white South Africans, no land has been confiscated under the legislation. Musk, who attended the White House meeting, has also criticized South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws, claiming they prevent his company, Starlink, from operating in the country.
The heated exchange highlights ongoing international tensions over race, land reform, and immigration policy, with Trump’s comments drawing renewed scrutiny for amplifying unverified claims and misrepresenting a complex and deeply rooted issue in South African society. (ANI)
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