A high-stakes Oval Office meeting between US President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa took a dramatic turn on Wednesday as Trump aired unverified claims of a “genocide” against white Afrikaner farmers in South Africa, overshadowing efforts to strengthen diplomatic and trade ties between the two nations.
What began as a cordial discussion quickly descended into confrontation, fulfilling the fears of Ramaphosa’s aides who had warned that the South African leader might be stepping into a politically charged ambush.
Widespread killing of white farmers
During the meeting, Donald Trump showed a video and images depicting white crosses and graphic scenes he claimed illustrated the widespread killing of white farmers.
“Each one of those white things you see is a cross, and there’s approximately a thousand of them. They’re all white farmers,” Trump told Ramaphosa, referring to the video playing on a screen in the room.
Ramaphosa initially adopted a warm tone, proposing a reset in US-South African relations and promoting trade.
He even presented Trump with a 14kg book about golf in South Africa, joking that he had begun playing the sport himself.
But tensions mounted when Ramaphosa was asked how he might change Trump’s views on the country.
“It will take President Trump listening to the voices of South Africans, some of whom are his good friends,” he replied.
He added that calls for land expropriation without compensation came from a “small minority” and did not reflect national policy.
Concerns
Also present at the meeting were South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk, a vocal critic of South Africa’s current policies, and golfing legends Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.
All three expressed concerns about safety in the country.
Musk and Trump have both publicly echoed the controversial narrative that white South Africans are facing targeted persecution – a view dismissed by Ramaphosa and many South African officials as a fringe conspiracy theory.
Donald Trump reiterated his opposition to South Africa’s new land expropriation bill, signed by Ramaphosa last year, which allows for the seizure of certain types of unused or abandoned land without compensation.
While similar to eminent domain laws in the US, the South African law has sparked international criticism, especially among right-wing commentators.
“Farmers are being killed,” Trump said firmly.
“We have had a tremendous number of people, especially white farmers, fleeing South Africa. It’s a very sad thing to see.”
Ramaphosa, a former labour leader and lawyer who has governed since 2018, pushed back, explaining that the land reform legislation aims to address historical injustices dating back to apartheid and is not a racial targeting mechanism.
Froze aid
The South African delegation included Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza, who dismissed claims of genocide as “nonsense,” as well as Trade Minister Ebrahim Patel, Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, and billionaire Johann Rupert.
Rupert, himself a frequent target of race-based criticism from far-left South African figures, urged the discussion to focus on solutions, including technology investment and economic development.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of fraying diplomatic ties.
Earlier this year, Trump froze most US aid to South Africa, citing persecution of white Afrikaners and Pretoria’s filing of a case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.
Last week, the US admitted its first group of white South African refugees, flown in on a chartered plane after being granted asylum.
The fallout has cast a long shadow over South Africa’s leadership of the G20 this year.
The US has notably avoided several key meetings of the bloc, resisting calls for collaborative action on issues such as global debt relief and climate change.
Despite the heated exchanges, efforts to focus on investment and economic cooperation were not entirely lost.
Els and Goosen highlighted the broader security challenges facing all South Africans, while Rupert appealed for US support in areas such as infrastructure, innovation, and social development.
Whether the meeting marks a permanent rupture or a turning point in the two countries’ complex relationship remains to be seen.
Did the meeting prove Cyril Ramaphosa is out of his depth as SA president?
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