Ramaphosa survives mauling by Trump over ‘white genocide’ 1 hour ago Farouk Chothia BBC News Donald Trump has proved to be the political Rottweiler of right-wing Afrikaner groups, taking their fight to South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The government delegation included South Africa’s most senior white politician, John Steenhuisen – the agriculture minister who leads South Africa’s second-biggest party, the Democratic Alliance (DA).
But some Afrikaners feel they can no longer live in South Africa, and Trump has offered them refugee status.
More on South African-US relations: Is there a genocide of white South Africans as Trump claims?
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Trump mauls Ramaphosa over “white genocide.”.
An hour ago.
Chothia Farouk.
the BBC News.
Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, has been the target of right-wing Afrikaner groups’ political rottweiler, Donald Trump.
The Solidarity Movement, which had traveled to the US to lobby the Trump administration, was quick to applaud the US president’s ambush of Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, stating that it was welcome that South Africa’s “enormous problems have been placed on the international stage.”.
The head of the Afrikaner right, Ernst Roets, expressed his respect for the US president.
“Donald Trump made history today,” he wrote on X before expressing gratitude for displaying newspaper headlines about white farmers being killed and videos of fierbrand opposition politician Julius Malema singing “Shoot the Boer (Afrikaner); Shoot the farmer.”.
Jaco Kleynhans of Solidarity went one step further and claimed that Trump should have won a Nobel Prize for “putting the farm murder crisis on the international agenda.”.
The ambush, however, demonstrated to prominent Afrikaner political columnist Pieter du Toit that “months and years of exaggeration, hyperbole, and misinformation fed into the American right-wing ecosystem by a range of South African activists had hit its mark.”.
See the video as Trump confronts Ramaphosa, saying, “Turn the lights down.”.
US ANALYSIS: Despite Trump’s planned assault, Ramaphosa remains composed.
WHAT HAPPENED: Trump accuses the President of South Africa of persecuting Afrikaners.
Similar to many South Africans, he commended Ramaphosa for his cool-headed approach to the White House encounter, grinning while Trump frowned.
However, many people are upset with right-wing organizations, claiming that they have lobbied the Trump administration to adopt a tough stance against the nation, demonstrating a lack of patriotism.
To address the nation’s numerous issues, including high crime rates that impact all racial and socioeconomic groups and a 32 percent unemployment rate that disproportionately affects Black people, these critics point to South Africa’s government of national unity, which is composed of ten parties from various racial and ideological backgrounds.
The majority of South Africans saw the “rainbow nation” at the White House as presenting a unified front against Trump.
The most senior white politician in South Africa, John Steenhuisen, the agriculture minister and head of the country’s second-largest party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), was part of the government delegation.
He said it took “a lot of effort to get on top of it” and acknowledged that South Africa had a “real safety problem.”.
“More policing resources will be needed,” he stated.
The idea that the majority of white farmers were escaping, however, was rejected by him: “It is true that most commercial and smallholder farmers in South Africa genuinely wish to remain in the country and succeed. “..”.
By showcasing its leader singing the “Shoot the Boer” song, Trump’s video enhanced the status of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party in South African politics.
Trump demands to know why no action has been taken against him, and Malema enjoys chanting the song at his political rallies, where the party promotes the nationalization of land.
The song, which was once an anthem against apartheid, has been attempted to be banned by Afrikaner lobby groups. However, a “reasonably well-informed person” would recognize that when “protest songs are sung, even by politicians, the words are not meant to be understood literally, nor is the gesture of shooting to be understood as a call to arms or violence,” according to a ruling by South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal.
Rather, the song served as a “provocative way” to further the EFF’s political goal of eradicating “land and economic injustice.”.
South Africa was a democracy, Ramaphosa reminded Trump, and although the government was “completely against” what Malema does, the EFF was allowed to exist by the constitution.
After the poll failed to produce an outright winner, Ramaphosa refused to give Malema political oxygen by agreeing to form a coalition government, which caused the EFF to drop to fourth place in last year’s parliamentary election.
To keep the EFF out of the government and help address South Africa’s issues, Steenhuisen informed Trump, the DA, a center-right party that supports a free market economy, joined the government.
“This government, working together, needs the support of our allies around the world so that we can strengthen our hand, grow our economy, and shut the door on that rebel [Malema] getting through the doors of Union Buildings [the seat of government] forever,” he stated.
It is uncomfortable to observe.
At the extremes of South African politics are the Afrikaner right-wing, the EFF, and former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (Spear of the Nation) party; Steenhuisen and Ramaphosa occupy the middle ground.
By mentioning Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid icon and the face of racial reconciliation in South Africa following the end of white-minority rule in 1994, Ramaphosa pledged to promote unity.
Nonetheless, Trump has extended an offer of refugee status to some Afrikaners who feel they can no longer function in South Africa. In the US, almost 60 of them have been resettled.
In February, some of the right-wingers who support Trump gathered outside the US embassy in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, holding signs that read, “Make South Africa Great Again,” which is a variation of Trump’s “Make America Great Again.”.
“Uncomfortable to watch” was how South Africa’s Minister of Land Reform, Mzwanele Nyhontso, described the meeting in the Oval Office.
“South Africa is free of genocide. Like in other nations, crime occurs in South Africa and has a significant impact on a large number of people, he said on the BBC’s Newshour program.
Nyhontso praised Ramaphosa for remaining calm instead of retaliating with guns blazing when Trump ambushed him.
The South African president’s strategy of inviting well-known Afrikaner golfers to the meeting in an attempt to ease tensions was also praised by some.
Ernie Els showed his patriotism by pulling out his South African passport when asked to speak. He also expressed his admiration for Mandela for his efforts to bring the nation together at the end of apartheid, but he also stated that he hoped to see South Africa prosper with American assistance.
Retief Goosen may have fanned the flames by describing his brother’s struggles farming outside of Polokwane, a town in the north, and how he had to deal with a “constant battle” with those who wanted to “burn the farm down and to chase you away.”.
He concluded, however, by stating that “the guys live a great life, despite what’s going on,” in spite of their fear of crime.
The townships of Cape Town, where the majority of the population is black or colored (as mixed-race people are known in South Africa) and vulnerable to violent gangs, have the highest murder rate in the country, according to billionaire businessman Johann Rupert, who is also Afrikaner.
The president of the biggest trade union in South Africa, Zingiswa Losi, informed Trump of the dire circumstances in rural areas “where the black majority is.”.
She stated, “You will witness women and the elderly being raped, killed, and murdered.”.
She urged the delegations to use trade and job creation as solutions to the issue.
“Crime, not necessarily race, is the issue in South Africa. “..”.
Most South Africans would agree with that sentiment.
More about the US-South Africa relationship.
Does Trump’s claim of a genocide against white South Africans hold true?
Trump offered South African refugees; do Afrikaners want to accept?
disagreement over Starlink that is racially charged between Musk and South Africa.
Is South Africa at a standstill following Trump’s threats?
What is causing Trump’s ire toward South Africa?
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