President Donald Trump’s meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa started off on a positive note. However, things took a turn when Ramaphosa challenged Trump on his claims of “genocide,” leading Trump to play a controversial video.
The video featured radical leader Julius Malema and other black political figures making alarming remarks, such as “Kill the farmers!” and “Shoot to Kill!” It also included threats to seize white-owned farmland and showcased a memorial for murdered farmers, marked by a thousand crosses along the roadside.
Ramaphosa attempted to shift the focus back to trade, investment, and global peace efforts. A South African journalist pressed Trump regarding his “genocide” claims and his refugee policies affecting white Africans.
Ramaphosa suggested that Trump needed to hear from ordinary South Africans, pointing to three white South Africans accompanying him, including golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen. Steenhuisen leads the Democratic Alliance, which is the main opposition party to Ramaphosa’s African National Congress.
Trump then insisted that the video be shown, leaving Ramaphosa and the reporters watching without room for response, aside from asking Trump for a significant venue.
Ramaphosa argued that the leader in the video represents a minor opposition faction, with Steenhuisen emphasizing that the DA had aligned with the ANC to marginalize those parties from government influence.
However, Trump countered that these parties have enough support to fill large stadiums, questioning why Malema hadn’t been arrested.
The conversation took a more serious turn when Trump called upon Ernie Els to make a statement. Els noted that it’s been 35 years since Nelson Mandela’s release and remarked on South Africa’s ongoing struggles. He made a point that “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” referring to conditional racism, and stated that American assistance is crucial for the country’s reforms.
Another golfer, Letieff, looked into Trump’s worries about farmer attacks and general crime. Businessman Johann Rupert pointed out that murder victims in South Africa are both white and black, but mentioned that the country had previously turned down American support due to anti-American attitudes. Trade union representatives echoed Rupert’s concerns, indicating that the potential cancellation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) could threaten jobs in a country already grappling with high unemployment.
When asked if he would attend the G20 summit in South Africa in November, Trump seemed noncommittal. He expressed hope that South Africa would cease its legal actions against Israel at the International Court of Justice, holding South African leaders accountable for how their nation is perceived abroad in a rather public manner.
NBC journalists faced criticism from Trump when they tried to veer the conversation towards jets donated to the U.S. Air Force by Qatar, which didn’t seem related to the South African discussions.
