In reality, the video shows a protest that took place on Sept. 5, 2020, near Normandien, South Africa.
He has also previously voiced Trump’s allegations that white South Africans are fleeing the country due to “violence and racist laws.”
Ramaphosa, major political parties in South Africa and a South African judge, however, have denied the existence of a white genocide in the country.
In February 2025, a South African court ruled that claims of white genocide were unfounded, calling them “not real” and “clearly imagined.”
During the Oval Office meeting with Trump, Ramaphosa said, “There is criminality in our country.
During a heated meeting at the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Donald Trump presented South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with pictures and videos he claimed demonstrated the country’s ongoing “genocide” against white farmers.
However, the video that the president referred to in the dimly lit White House room—which featured a series of crosses—was not what Trump claimed it was.
In reference to the video, Trump remarked, “These are the — these are burial sites right here,”.
All of those white objects you see are crosses. There are roughly a thousand of them as well. All of them are members of the white farmer’s family. The dot. “All of those people are killed,” Trump continued.
The footage actually depicts a protest that happened in September. 5, 2020, close to South Africa’s Normandien. The Newcastle Advertiser, a local publication, reported that two farmers had been murdered at their home in the area a few days prior, which prompted the protest.
The outlet claims that volunteers positioned the crosses along a portion of the protest route.
The South African Institute of Race Relations at the time also produced a report that detailed the protest and included a video of it.
The Institute’s spokesperson, Hermann Pretorious, told ABC News, “Those crosses honor farm murder victims, but they are not graves. “,”.
“They were momentarily on display as part of a processional protest after Glenn and Vida Rafferty were killed on their farm in KwaZulu-Natal’s Normandien. “The crosses were later taken down,” Pretorious stated.
Additionally, Google Street View photos from May 2023 reveal that the crosses were already down.
In another segment of the video, a man wearing a red beret chants, “Kill the boer, kill the farmer,” and talks about stealing land without paying anyone.
This individual is Julius Malema, who in 2013 was expelled from the African National Congress, of which Ramaphosa is a member, and went on to found the tiny but radical party Economic Freedom Fighters.
Jacob Zuma, a former president of South Africa and current head of the opposition uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, is the person wearing the yellow shirt in the video.
After Trump aired the video, Ramaphosa claimed that the speeches in the video did not accurately reflect his government’s policies. The opposition agriculture minister of South Africa added that numerous parties had made an effort to keep radicals out of power.
Trump also showed a printout of a blog post that included a picture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the meeting; he implied that the photo was taken in South Africa.
Trump’s top adviser and South African native Elon Musk attended Ramaphosa’s White House visit on Wednesday. Trump has claimed that white South Africans are escaping the country because of “violence and racist laws,” and he has previously echoed these claims. “.”.
However, a South African judge, Ramaphosa, and other prominent political parties have denied that the country is experiencing a white genocide.
According to a February 2025 ruling by a South African court, allegations of white genocide were “not real” and “clearly imagined.”. “.”.
There is a problem with some farmers being killed in South Africa, even though the court has rejected claims of a white genocide.
According to data gathered in 2023, South Africa has a high murder rate—45 murders per 100,000 people—and some of the killings are graphic, but there is no proof that the killings are motivated by race.
“Criminality exists in our nation,” Ramaphosa stated during the meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. Unfortunately, the majority of those killed in criminal activity are Black people, not just white people. “.”.
In a statement titled “President Trump is Right About What’s Happening in South Africa,” the White House reiterated the administration’s baseless allegations of racial violence occurring in the country following the meeting.
A list of press clips citing stories from Fox News, Breitbart, and the BBC that they claim bolster their argument is included in the statement. A large number of the release’s clippings discuss specific violent crimes or threats of violence.
This report was compiled by Gaby Vinick, Lena Camilletti, Kerem Inal, and Chris Looft of ABC News.
