The presidents of South Africa and the United States, Cyril Ramaphosa and Donald Trump, on Wednesday, held a meeting at the Oval Office to lay down a path to reconciliation.
- The presidents of South Africa and the United States, Cyril Ramaphosa and Donald Trump, recently held discussions at the Oval Office to address ongoing tensions.
- Key topics of disagreement included claims of violence against white farmers in South Africa.
- Efforts were made by South African representatives to ease tensions, demonstrating solidarity within the diverse population of South Africa.
Both parties, for months, have been at odds with each other over the contentious conversation on land reforms and subsequently the killing of white farmers.
During the meeting, they had a chance to address it, where the United States president was adamant that the genocide was not a hoax.
To this effect, he played an uncomfortable montage for the South African president, showing South Africa’s opposition leader, Julius Malema, calling for violence against white farmers.
While the South African head of state did everything in his power to contain the narrative, the video, unfortunately, had already portrayed the popularity of a sentiment that appeared dangerously xenophobic.
However, prior to that, the South African president gave a solution on what he thought would convince Trump that the genocide was non-existent.
“It will take President Trump listening to the voices of South Africans, some of whom are his good friends, like those who are here, when we have talks under the quiet table,” the South African president interputed when the media asked Trump what it would take for him to be convinced there is no genocide against white farmers in South Africa.
“I would say if there was Afrikana genocide, I can bet you these three gentlemen would not be here, including my minister of agriculture, he would not be with me… so it would take President Trump listening to their story and their perspective,” he added.
Unfortunately, this is where Trump jumped in, noting that there have been thousands of stories, and documentaries pointing to the viability of the genocide claim.
Working visit between Cyril Ramaphosa and Donald Trump
Last week, Ramaphosa’s office revealed that the South African president would be visiting the United States for a working trip, where he will meet U.S. President Donald Trump.
The visit followed the U.S. decision to grant refugee status to dozens of white Afrikaners this week, amid widely discredited claims by Trump that “genocide” is being committed against white farmers in the predominantly Black nation.
In what many feared would bear a resemblance to Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Cyril Ramaphosa arrived at the White House as scheduled, alongside his country’s top golfers, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and S.A’s wealthiest man, Johann Rupert.
The three Afrikaners’ presence was meant to diffuse tension and demonstrate solidarity between South Africa’s current administration and its white population.
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“We are essentially here to reset the relationship between the United States and South Africa,” Ramaphosa said.
While the presence of the three men made for pleasant small talk on golfing, it didn’t take much time before the atmosphere became very uncomfortable for everyone.
South Africa vs America
Since assuming office, President Trump has had a few issues with South Africa and its current administration.
He had earlier brought up the subject of land reform policy and racial inequalities in land ownership.
In response, South Africa’s government defended the land reform strategy as constitutional and intended to resolve racial disparities in property ownership since apartheid ended in 1994, emphasizing that no expropriations had occurred thus far.
The United States government intervened by launching a comprehensive relocation scheme for some families, which has seen the arrival of 59 Afrikaners in the U.S. under the program.
Additionally, the White House had instructed U.S. government agencies to suspend cooperation with the upcoming G20 summit scheduled to be hosted by South Africa.
South Africa, earlier in the month, revealed plans to appoint a new ambassador to the U.S. following the expulsion of former envoy Ebrahim Rasool in March 2025.
The U.S. had expelled the former ambassador to Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio describing him as a “race-baiting politician” with strong anti-Trump sentiments.
