President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation went to Washington, DC, to discuss geopolitical matters and trade relations with United States President Donald Trump, only for talks to revolve solely around false Afrikaner farmer genocide claims.
In the meeting held in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump staged a Zelenskyy-like attack on the South African delegation about the genocide narrative using a video of Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema calling for land expropriation without compensation and singing the controversial “kill the Boer” song.
“Why won’t you arrest that guy? He says kill all the white farmers and then he dances and dances after saying that?” Trump said, referring to the Malema video.
The US president had compiled a dossier of articles that were centred around farm killings in the country, which he later handed to Ramaphosa.
“White South Africans are fleeing because of the violence and racist laws,” Trump said. He pointed at a picture: “You look at all the crosses, these are all white farmers who are being murdered.
In his rebuttal to this, Ramaphosa explained that Malema and others who have made bold statements regarding land expropriation are part of minority parties, who do not have the power to implement any laws.
Notably, Trump interjected every time Ramaphosa put his point across.
“What you saw are the speeches that are made, one that is not government policy. We have a multiparty democracy in South Africa that allows people to express themselves. These parties have their own policy, and in some cases, those policies do not align with government policy. Our policy is completely against what he [Malema] was saying,” Ramaphosa said.
The president then went on to explain that the majority of crime affected black people, despite Trump’s beliefs. Ramaphosa cited the country’s constitution, which protects the sanctity of land ownership for all citizens.
While stressing that the matter be discussed behind closed doors, Ramaphosa roped in agriculture minister John Steenhuisen into the conversation to provide clarity around the farm killings.
Steenhuisen used the opportunity to demystify the notion that farm crimes only affect white people, adding that the country needs to beef up resources to minimise them. He further backed Ramaphosa by mentioning how insignificant the views of the EFF and uMkhonto we Sizwe Party are in the greater scheme.
Congress of SA Trade Union President Zingiswa Losi explained the country’s expropriation laws and spoke about the importance of SA-US relations when it comes to agriculture.
“The importance of agriculture is linked to the AGOA, as people rely on it for survival,” she said.
Meanwhile, South African billionaire Johann Rupert agreed that the murders were across the board and that Elon Musk’s Starlink technology could be the solution to this problem.
“We have too many deaths — but it’s across the board. It’s not only white farmers, it is across the board. And we need technological help, we need Starlink at every little police station, we need drones,” Rupert told Trump.
Golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen also weighed in on the matter. Els oddly highlighted the US support for the apartheid government in the battle of Cuito Cuanavale in Angola, but reverted to the importance of trade relations between the two countries thereafter.
“We grew up in the apartheid era, but I do not think that two wrongs make a right. President [Nelson] Mandela came out of prison without hatred. We still want to see our country flourish, so there is a lot of coexistence, but we need the US. We need to have your support,” he said.
Ramaphosa will have bilateral talks with Trump behind closed doors, and his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told NewzRoom Afrika, and believes that the South African delegation will be shifting the conversation towards more pressing matters.
