- U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to the White House on Wednesday.
- The meeting was meant to "reset" U.S.-South African relations, which have been fraught.
- Ramaphosa refuted rumors of genocide, but Trump presented a video that showed the alleged graves of White South African farmers.
President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa held a meeting on Wednesday in the Oval Office.
The meeting included positive statements from both leaders about the importance of a strong trade relationship and a proposed deal to launch Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service in South African skies.
But there was tension as Ramaphosa rejected Trump’s assertion that genocide is taking place among white South Africans.
For context, the United States recently welcomed 59 white Afrikaners and granted them refugee status.
“It will take President Trump listening to the voices of South Africans, some of whom are his good friends, like those who are here,” said Ramaphosa, who was accompanied by famous South Africans like golfer Ernie Els and billionaire Johann Rupert. “When we have talks between us at a quiet table, it will take President Trump to listen to them. I will not be repeating what I’ve been saying.”
In response, Trump dimmed the Oval Office’s lights and played an alleged documentary that showed images of white South African burial sites. Ramaphosa denied that the video represented any government policy, as well as seeing the video before.
“We have dead white people, dead white farmers, mostly,” Trump replied.
What is the relationship like between South Africa and the U.S.?
Trump called the meeting a “great honor” and expressed gratitude to be with Ramaphosa, who, he said, “is certainly in some circles, really respected, other circles, a little bit less respected, like all of us, in all fairness.”
Ramaphosa said that his presence was meant to reset the relationship between the United States and South Africa, which country Trump has repeatedly criticized over the reported killings and land seizure from Afrikaners.
South Africa is home to a mixed population of Black Africans as well as Afrikaners, who are white South Africans descended from Dutch colonists. Dutch colonists arrived in the country in the 1600s.
From 1948 to 1994, a ruling party of Afrikaners instituted apartheid, or racial segregation, and the rights of Black inhabitants were heavily restricted.
Apartheid eventually broke down after an avalanche of resistance from churches, civic groups, trade unions, students, athletes and more. Arrests and killings plagued the country until the government eventually overturned apartheid in 1994.
Nevertheless, racial tensions still scar the country, which is home to about 64 million people, about 80% of whom are Black.
What’s really going on in South Africa?
Trump has spoken about white South African “genocide” since 2018, and his claims have been backed by Elon Musk, the South African-born billionaire.
Facts compiled by PolitiFact seem to refute the existence of a widespread genocide. Though white farmers have been murdered in South Africa, these murders account for less than 1% of over 27,000 annual murders nationwide. The majority of murder victims in South Africa are young Black males.
“There is criminality in our country,” Ramaphosa said at the White House meeting. “People who do get killed unfortunately through criminal activity, are not only white people. Majority of them are Black people.”
Ramaphosa’s government administration, including his Cabinet, includes a significant number of Afrikaners. Trump’s claims have triggered denial from some Afrikaner residents as well as outrage from the South African government.
In particular, Ramaphosa called the 59 Afrikaners who entered the U.S. “cowards” who should have stayed to work together to solve the country’s problems.