US President Donald Trump glossed over discussions on foreign direct investment in his discussions with President Cyril Ramaphosa in Washington last night, instead focusing on his repeated claims that White South African farmers were victims of genocide in South Africa.
Trump appeared to have ambushed Ramaphosa by playing a series of video clips of EFF leader Julius Malema singing “Kill the Boer” and other songs related to the killing of white people.
“Now, this is very bad,” said Trump, pointing to the burial sites of white farmers shown in the clip.
“It is a terrible sight. I have never seen anything like this,” he said.
Prior to Trump instructing for the montage of video clips to be played, Ramaphosa said that he would allow, in a separate meeting, his delegation which included billionaire and founder of Remgro, Johann Rupert and golfers Ernie Else and Retief Goosen to explain in their own words that the idea of a white genocide in South Africa, was a myth.
Ramaphosa was joined by Minister of Agriculture and DA leader John Steenhuisen, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau and Cosatu President Zingiswa Losi.
Ramaphosa was trying to dismiss the allegations of a white genocide when Trump interjected, saying while he heard what Ramaphosa was saying, his administration was being inundated with the rhetoric of white people being killed in South Africa.
“We have thousands of stories talking about it and we have documentaries, we have news stories, I could show you a couple of things, I mean it has to be responded to,” he told Ramaphosa.
Trump then was handed articles he said were stories on the murders of White African farmers as the video montage was played.
The first clip showed Malema in parliament where he said that black people would occupy land in the country and that “no permission from you, from the president, from no-one” was needed for this to happen.
In another clip, Malema said “You must never be scared to kill. A revolution demands that at some point there must be killing because the killing is part of a revolutionary act,” before singing the “Kill the Boer” song.
Ramaphosa responded to the video clips and the articles that Trump held, saying that he should listen to the stories of people like Els, Goosen and Rupert to determine if there was a White genocide in South Africa.
“But when we have talks between us around a quiet table it will take President Trump to listen to them, I’m not going to be repeating what I’ve been saying, I would say if there was Afrikaner farmer genocide I can bet you these three gentlemen would not be here, including my minister of agriculture, he would not be with me,” said Ramaphosa.
During their interactions with the media, Ramaphosa said the US and South Africa are longstanding partners and the two countries need to reset their relationship.
However, Trump said there were a lot of people who were concerned with regard to South Africa, adding that many feel persecuted.
He said that thousands of people were fleeing to the US because their land was being taken.
“They are white farmers and they feel that they are going to die in South Africa. People are fleeing from South Africa for their own safety,” he said.
Ramaphosa asked Steenhuisen to address the issue, who said that although there was a rural safety problem in SA, the majority of farmers want to stay in the country.
Steenhuisen echoed the sentiments, adding that as the Agriculture Minister, he was working with police to address the problem.
He said the DA had joined hands with Ramaphosa and the ANC to keep the EFF and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party out of government, adding that the Government of National Unity needed the help of international allies.
Cosatu president Losi also tried to convince Trump about the need for beneficial trade relations, saying about 500,000 jobs would wiped out if AGOA is repealed. Losi emphasised that there was no expropriation without compensation taking place in the country.
The EFF last night responded to the montage of video clips played at the meeting, “the meeting, which came under the pretext of discussing diplomatic, trade and economic relations, ended up being a discussion about the President and Commander in Chief of the EFF Julius Malema and his correct and principled position regarding the return of the land to African people, and the return of the means of production into the hands of the African majority”.
“Trump proceeded to play numerous clips of the President of the EFF wherein our leader spoke correctly about the unequal distribution of land in South Africa and sang the chant “Kill The Boer, Kill The Farmer”, which is a song that expresses the desire to destroy the system of white minority control over the resources of South Africa,” the party said in a statement.
The EFF said “the dominance of white male voices in the entire interaction”, proves to the party that the delegation sought to make assurances to Trump that the transformation agenda of South Africa is one that can be compromised.
“All of the utterances by Ramaphosa’s delegation point to a devious plot to rekindle relations with a maniacal Trump administration by sacrificing our sovereignty at the alter of convenience,” the statement read.
Governance expert and political analyst, Sandile Swana, described the meeting as chaotic, adding that he hoped that the actual meeting and negotiations about bilateral talks would take place secretly.
“But for now, what is happening is that Trump is using information that is procured by dubious sources and that cannot withstand the academic test.
“It is unfortunate. But we need to be happy that Ramaphosa agreed to the meeting and he can only do his best. but Trump was determined to do exactly what he intended,” Swana said.
Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order targeting South Africa by formally cutting off aid to the country and attacking it for human rights abuses. The order also said the US would have a policy to promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination.
In April, Trump rolled out a global tariff scheme, slapping South Africa with a hefty 30% on exports.
