Ramaphosa and Trump square off in Oval Office clash
President Cyril Ramaphosa can take credit for his role for steering SA away from a full-blown race war in the 1990s, but he walked into a Donald Trump trap in the Oval Office yesterday.
It is reported that Ramaphosa’s efforts to promote the rainbow nation – and the fact that there is no genocide and no land has been seized by his government – failed.
The Mercury reports that Ramaphosa was joined by International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola, Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, Trade, Industry & Competition Minister Parks Tau and Cosatu President Zingiswa Losi.
The Daily Maverick reports that there were grave concerns that Ramaphosa would be led into an ambush similar to the one Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy experienced earlier this year when Trump – and Vice President JD Vance – berated him over his handling of Russia’s invasion.
And that is exactly what happened.
The Citizen reports that the meeting started off with an extremely amicable discussion, but later descended into chaos and shifted to the topic of violence against white farmers.
It came amid heightened tensions between the US and SA over claims by Trump and SA-born billionaire Elon Musk about the country’s racial equity laws, which prompted the US to recently admit white SA refugees while barring refugees from other countries.
The Citizen reports that Trump reiterated his concern over what he believes is a dire situation ‘and that’s the purpose of this meeting, and we have welcomed people who are being persecuted’.
Ramaphosa rejected this, saying ‘it will take President Trump listening to the voices of South Africans’.
‘I’m not going to be repeating what I’m saying. If there was an Afrikaner genocide, these three men (businessman Anton Rupert, golf legend Ernie Els and Steenhuisen) they would not be here’.
When asked why he accepts refugees from SA and no other countries, Trump said there are ‘concerns’ about SA.
‘We do have a lot of people concerned with regards to SA, that’s the purpose of the meeting. We have many people who feel they are being persecuted… I must tell you, Mr President, we have had a tremendous number of people who are fleeing SA, and it’s a very sad thing to see.’
EWN reports that Steenhuisen and Rupert refuted Trump’s claims of a white genocide occurring in SA. Steenhuisen said the majority of farmers want to stay in SA rather than leave.
The DA leader said the country has prioritised protecting white farmers, including preventing livestock theft.
Ramaphosa clarified his position on Trump’s accusations, saying SA has a democracy that allows people to express themselves.
‘There is criminality in our country, and the people who get killed in SA are not only white people, but also include black people.’
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
