Donald Trump recently reignited debates surrounding South Africa’s racial policies during a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Oval Office. He drummed up fears of an impending genocide of the white Afrikaner minority. He claimed that white farmers were being discriminated against on the basis of their race. He tweeted his claim including a video to support it—drawing an avalanche of outrage. This has led advocacy groups and reporters to question the veracity of his statements.
At times throughout the meeting, Trump encouraged people to “turn the lights low.” He followed that up by showing a very compelling video to back up his point. He personally delivered a sheaf of printed articles from the news coverage to Ramaphosa. In every story, he led with “death,” driving home with each story the perilous straits of farmers in this country – especially white farmers. Ramaphosa would later deny he’d ever watched the video that Trump showed. This undermined the credibility of the evidence that Trump provided to back up his claims.
In the wake of Pretoria’s land confiscations, Trump asserted himself on behalf of what he termed an Afrikaner minority facing “unjust racial discrimination.” He signed an executive order to stop aid to South Africa. This order targeted as particularly noxious a law in South Africa that permits land expropriation in certain circumstances. It launched a direct resettlement program intended to help relocate Afrikaners to the United States as refugees. These kinds of measures have already raised alarm bells among critics who want to insist that Trump’s approach is an oversimplification of a complicated issue.
The meeting packed some really amazing talent. In tow was Ramaphosa at the time, along with two of South Africa’s most high-profile golfers, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, whom Trump dubbed his “friends.” One of the goals of including these athletes was to underscore uplifting stories coming out of South Africa. Separately, Ramaphosa held talks with Johann Rupert, widely considered the luckiest businessman in South Africa. Their presence was meant to offset the effect of Trump’s dark and dystopian view of the state of our country.
Since then, unfortunately, Trump’s comments went well beyond the political sphere. He told the room that his wife had liked JD Vance’s autobiography, suggesting some personal familiarity with dominant American cultural narratives. Specifically, the President expressed keen interest in Elon Musk’s newly available Starlink satellite internet service. In response, he proposed that it would make a huge impact on police stations across South Africa.
In many ways, the context of what he’s saying is indicative of greater socio-political tensions occurring across South Africa. Julius Malema is the leader of South Africa’s radical left opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). He has lately made headlines for his incendiary calls inciting the occupation of land and violence. Former President Jacob Zuma has contributed to this climate with a controversial video in which he sings about shooting.
While Trump’s musings were indeed alarming, official homicide statistics tell a more complicated story about crime on South African farms. During the fourth quarter of 2024, police documented about twelve murders on these farms, which are held by both white and Black smallholders. This heartbreaking figure is among almost 7,000 total homicides recorded throughout the country. On the other hand, this data indicates that farm murders, for all their tragedy, don’t necessarily fit Trump’s sensationalized narrative.