President Donald Trump recently met with South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House to discuss the ongoing crisis with South Africa’s white minority population.
President Trump and Ramaphosa’s conversations centered on recent reports alleging some of South Africa’s white minority population has been persecuted by radical political groups.
South Africa has rejected such reports.
Trump questioned Ramaphosa during a televised conference in the Oval Office and showed worrying videos demonstrating the political persecution faced by white South Africans.
In one segment, a South African lawmaker can be heard chanting “kill the white farmer” while giving a political rally in a stadium packed with tens of thousands of spectators.
Trump pressed Ramaphosa on why such incitement of violence had not been criminally prosecuted.
"Do you denounce that type of language in the video that we saw?" Trump asked Ramaphosa. "Oh yes... We are completely opposed to that," replied Ramaphosa. "But why wouldn't you arrest that man? That man said 'kill the white farmers' and then he danced," retorted Trump.
Earlier in May, a group of white refugees from South Africa were speedily granted access into the US after they cited fears of persecution.
“When they kill the white farmer, nothing happens,” continued Trump.
Also of concern is a recent land reform law that enables for expropriation of private property without compensation in the public interest.
Given South Africa’s apartheid past, where property laws favored white over black South Africans, some argue such laws are justified as rectifications of previous injustices.
Trump, however, criticized the laws.
"You're taking people's land away from them,” accused Trump. “And those people in many cases are being executed. They happen to be white, and most of the farmers. And it is a tough situation."
Similarly, South African native Elon Musk derided the laws as “racist” and has repeatedly claimed a “genocide” was occurring in South Africa.
South Africa is one of the US’s largest trading partners, but the former’s increased affinity for countries like China and Russia have prompted some lawmakers to call for a reconsideration of the US-South Africa relationship.
