Written by Faith Mwende
A high-stakes meeting at the White House turned tense when former U.S. President Donald Trump blindsided South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with a controversial video alleging the killing of white farmers in South Africa.
The unexpected moment unfolded in the Oval Office, where Trump dimmed the lights and played a video montage showing what he claimed were “graves of more than a thousand white farmers.”
“It’s a terrible sight I’ve never seen anything like it. Those people are all killed,” Trump said as Ramaphosa sat mostly silent and expressionless.
The footage included inflammatory clips of South African officials and politicians allegedly calling for violence.
Ramaphosa, visibly taken aback, later responded: “I’d like to know where that is because this I’ve never seen.”
Despite the ambush, Ramaphosa later told reporters the meeting “went very well.” He also firmly rejected the genocide claim, stating: “There is just no genocide in South Africa.”
Trump, however, doubled down. “People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety. Their land is being confiscated and in many cases they’re being killed,” he said, while flipping through printed news articles. “Here’s burial sites all over the place… these are all white farmers that are being buried,” he added.
The White House later shared the footage on its official X account, calling it “proof of persecution in South Africa.”
One of the more controversial clips featured Julius Malema singing a well-known anti-apartheid song with lyrics about killing farmers.
Trump referenced such moments, claiming: “These are people that are officials and they’re saying… kill the white farmer and take their land.”
Ramaphosa firmly pushed back: “What you saw, the speeches that were being made, that is not government policy. Our government policy is completely, completely against what he was saying.”
He also clarified that the speakers shown in the clips belong to minority political groups not aligned with the ruling government.
“We have a multi-party democracy, they are a small minority party which is allowed to exist in terms of our constitution.”
While acknowledging high crime rates in South Africa, Ramaphosa noted that most victims are black South Africans.
Trump interjected: “The farmers are not black.” Ramaphosa replied, “These are concerns we are willing to talk to you about.”
The meeting lasted nearly three hours, but the fallout from Trump’s dramatic presentation is expected to stir fresh diplomatic debate over race, crime, and land reform in South Africa.
