By Lehlohonolo Lehana
US president Donald Trump has ambushed president Cyril Ramaphosa by playing videos of what he said was white persecution in South Africa as the two leaders met in the Oval Office.
Trump said the footage showed the graves of more than a thousand white farmers and “it’s a terrible sight… I’ve never seen anything like it. Those people are all killed”.
After an initial friendly chat where Trump complimented South African golfers in the room, a montage of clips was played as Ramaphosa sat quietly and mostly expressionless. He later said: “I’d like to know where that is because this [the alleged burial site in the video] I’ve never seen”.
The lights were dimmed in the Oval Office as the videos were shown,one of the clips included that of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema singing a controversial anti-apartheid song that includes lyrics about killing a farmer.
Trump suggested Malema, should be arrested.
Alluding to people in the videos, Trump said: “These are people that are officials and they’re saying… kill the white farmer and take their land.”
He accused South Africa of failing to address the killing of white farmers. “People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety,” the US president said. “Their land is being confiscated and in many cases they’re being killed.”
Ramaphosa remained composed throughout the scene.
In recent months, Trump has criticised the land reform law and South Africa’s genocide court case against Israel.
He has cancelled aid, expelled South Africa’s ambassador and offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners based on racial discrimination claims South Africa says are baseless.
The US president then displayed printed copies of news articles that he said showed white South Africans who had been killed, saying “death, death” as he flipped through them.
He added of one article: “Here’s burial sites all over the place, these are all white farmers that are being buried.”
Ramaphosa pushed back against Trump’s accusations, by responding: “What you saw, the speeches that were being made, that is not government policy. We have a multi-party democracy in South Africa that allows people to express themselves, political parties to adhere to various policies.
“And in many cases, or in some cases, those policies do not go along with government policy.
“Our government policy is completely, completely against what he [a person in the video montage] was saying, even in the parliament. And they are a small minority party which is allowed to exist in terms of our constitution.”
The South African delegation included figures already in Trump’s orbit, including billionaire Johann Rupert and professional golfer Ernie Els.
Both men sought to dispel the notion that white South Africans were being persecuted. Rupert said that while crime is high, it is “across the board. It’s not only white farmers.” He sought to focus the meeting on South Africa’s need for technological development.
Els relayed a similar message.
“Ernie Els knows Trump. He’s known him for a long time. He talks Trump’s language when it comes to golf.”
Trump likes speaking to people like that. He said in the Oval Office, ‘I like winners, and Ernie Els is a winner.'”
The United States is South Africa’s second-biggest bilateral trading partner after China. But the country is facing a 30% tariff under Trump’s currently suspended “Liberation Day” regime, and Ramaphosa was keen to discuss a trade deal and business opportunities.