South Africans on Thursday expressed anger over what they described as false claims by U.S. President Donald Trump.
It was gathered that Trump accused South Africans of white genocide during a conversation with President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday.
Many of the citizens wondered if his trip to Washington was worth the trouble.
Ramaphosa included popular white South African golfers in his delegation and he had hoped talks with Trump in the White House on Wednesday would reset relations with the United States, which have nosedived since the U.S. leader took office in January.
But Trump spent most of the conversation confronting his visitor with false claims that South Africa’s white minority farmers are being systematically murdered and having their land seized.
“He didn’t get Zelenskyed. That’s what we have to hang onto (He) did not get personally insulted by the world’s most horrible duo of playground bullies,” Rebecca Davis of the national Daily Maverick wrote.
At a February White House meeting, Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, calling him ungrateful for U.S. military aid, and Zelenskiy heatedly tried to argue his case.
For some, though, Ramaphosa’s cool composure raised the question of what was achieved by his having subjected himself to the onslaught.
“I don’t think it was the right call. I don’t think we need to explain ourselves to the USA,” 40-year-old Sobelo Motha, a member of a trade union, said on the streets of Johannesburg.
“We … we know there’s no white genocide. So for me, it was pointless exercise.”
The South African president arrived prepared for an aggressive reception, given actions in recent months by Trump, who has cancelled aid to South Africa, offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners, expelled the country’s ambassador and criticized its genocide court case against Israel.
But throughout, Trump wanted only to discuss the treatment of white South Africans, playing a video and leafing through articles that he said proved his allegations.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri defended Ramaphosa’s handling of the encounter, saying it was important that the two leaders engaged.
“It’s not in the president’s (Ramaphosa’s) nature to be combative. (He) looks at issues calmly, matter-of-factly. I think that’s what we expect of our presidents,” he told Reuters.
