South Africa agrees new climate loan, critical minerals cooperation on Germany visit

South Africa welcomes support from Germany — Because of the support from Germany, Minister Ronald Lamola says South Africa feels it is still part of the G20. / File Picture / Gallo Images

Germany has agreed to give South Africa a new €200-million (R3.8-billion) concessional climate loan, and the two countries will deepen cooperation in other areas like critical minerals, South Africa’s foreign minister said on Monday.

The loan will support investment in South Africa’s power grid and renewable energy capacity, Minister Ronald Lamola said after talks with German counterpart Johann Wadephul in Berlin.

He said that Germany and the European Union had also extended funding for green hydrogen and battery value chain cooperation by more than €270-million.

Despite South Africa’s strained relationship with the US during President Donald Trump’s second term in office, Lamola thanked Wadephul for German support.

Trump excludes SA from G20 meetings

Trump has excluded South Africa from meetings of the Group of 20 (G20) nations this year and criticised its foreign policy and domestic race laws.

He boycotted a G20 summit in Johannesburg in November 2025.

Lamola said: “We feel we are part of it [the G20] because of the support that we have received from Germany and from other G20 members.”

Last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa dismissed Trump’s threat to exclude South Africa from this year’s G20 summit, reaffirming South Africa’s status as a founding member of the group.

Washington boycotted the G20 leaders’ summit held under South Africa’s presidency in Johannesburg on November 22-23, with Trump repeating allegations, widely discredited, that the host country’s black-majority government persecutes its white minority.

Among Trump’s claims contradicted by the evidence is that there is a genocide of white farmers in South Africa.

Some fringe groups of white South Africans have propagated this conspiracy theory since the end of apartheid in 1994.

It has been circulating in global far-right chat rooms for at least a decade, with the vocal support of Trump’s ally, South African-born Elon Musk.

Data refute claims of genocide

Supporters of the theory point to murders of white farmers in remote rural parts of the country as proof of a politically orchestrated campaign of ethnic cleansing, rather than ordinary violent crime.

They accuse the government of being complicit in the farm murders, either by encouraging them or by ignoring them. The government strongly denies this claim.

South Africa has one of the world’s highest murder rates, with an average of 72 a day, in a country of 60-million people. Most victims are black people.

In 2024, South African police recorded 26 232 murders across the country, with 44 linked to farming communities. Of those, eight of the victims were farmers.

Data collected by white farmers themselves also does not support the notion of a genocide.

The Afrikaner farmers’ union TLU-SA has counted 1 363 white farmers murdered since 1990, or an average of 40 a year—far less than 1% of total murders.

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Reuters

Germany will provide South Africa with a €200-million concessional climate loan to support investments in the power grid and renewable energy.
The EU and Germany are also increasing funding by over €270 million for green hydrogen and battery value chain projects in South Africa.
Despite strained relations with the US during Trump's presidency, South Africa expressed gratitude for German support amid diplomatic tensions.
Trump excluded South Africa from the G20 meetings and accused the country of persecuting its white minority, claims widely discredited by evidence.
Data shows South Africa’s high murder rate affects mostly black citizens; farm murders do not constitute a genocide against white farmers as alleged by fringe groups.

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Germany has agreed to give South Africa a new €200-million (R3.8-billion) concessional climate loan, and the two countries will deepen cooperation in other areas like critical minerals, South Africa's foreign minister said on Monday.

The loan will support investment in South Africa's power grid and renewable energy capacity, Minister Ronald Lamola said after talks with German counterpart Johann Wadephul in Berlin.

He said that Germany and the European Union had also extended funding for green hydrogen and battery value chain cooperation by more than €270-million.

Despite South Africa's strained relationship with the US during President Donald Trump's second term in office, Lamola thanked Wadephul for German support.

Trump has excluded South Africa from meetings of the Group of 20 (G20) nations this year and criticised its foreign policy and domestic race laws.

He boycotted a G20 summit in Johannesburg in November 2025.

Lamola said: "We feel we are part of it [the G20] because of the support that we have received from Germany and from other G20 members."

Last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa dismissed Trump's threat to exclude South Africa from this year's G20 summit, reaffirming South Africa's status as a founding member of the group.

Washington boycotted the G20 leaders' summit held under South Africa's presidency in Johannesburg on November 22-23, with Trump repeating allegations, widely discredited, that the host country's black-majority government persecutes its white minority.

Among Trump's claims contradicted by the evidence is that there is a genocide of white farmers in South Africa.

Some fringe groups of white South Africans have propagated this conspiracy theory since the end of apartheid in 1994.

It has been circulating in global far-right chat rooms for at least a decade, with the vocal support of Trump's ally, South African-born Elon Musk.

Supporters of the theory point to murders of white farmers in remote rural parts of the country as proof of a politically orchestrated campaign of ethnic cleansing, rather than ordinary violent crime.

They accuse the government of being complicit in the farm murders, either by encouraging them or by ignoring them. The government strongly denies this claim.

South Africa has one of the world's highest murder rates, with an average of 72 a day, in a country of 60-million people. Most victims are black people.

In 2024, South African police recorded 26 232 murders across the country, with 44 linked to farming communities. Of those, eight of the victims were farmers.

Data collected by white farmers themselves also does not support the notion of a genocide.

The Afrikaner farmers' union TLU-SA has counted 1 363 white farmers murdered since 1990, or an average of 40 a year—far less than 1% of total murders.

Visit SW YouTube Channel for our video content