A tense and highly publicized meeting unfolded in the Oval Office between U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. What began as a diplomatic discussion intended to strengthen trade ties between the two nations took a dramatic turn when Trump presented a video, claiming it depicted “burial sites” of over 1,000 white farmers in South Africa, victims of what he suggested was a racially motivated “genocide.” The video, showing a rural road lined with white crosses and a procession of vehicles, was presented as evidence of widespread persecution. However, a closer examination revealed the footage was from a 2020 memorial procession in Newcastle, South Africa, honoring a murdered white farming couple—not a graveyard. This misrepresentation, coupled with Trump’s broader claims about land seizures and violence, sparked global controversy, reignited debates about South Africa’s racial history, and raised questions about the spread of disinformation in international diplomacy. This blog delves into the incident, the context of South Africa’s farm violence, the historical and political implications, and the broader issue of misinformation in global narratives.
The Oval Office Confrontation: A Staged Ambush
The meeting started cordially, with Trump complimenting South African golfers present in the room and Ramaphosa gifting him a book on South Africa’s golf courses. However, the tone shifted abruptly when Trump, responding to a reporter’s question about whether he believed a “genocide” was occurring against white farmers in South Africa, dimmed the Oval Office lights and played a video montage. The footage, which Trump claimed showed “burial sites” of white farmers, featured a rural highway lined with white crosses and a slow-moving convoy of cars. Speaking over the video, Trump asserted, “These are burial sites right here. Over a thousand of white farmers. And those cars are stopped there to pay respect to the family member who was killed.” He further claimed the crosses represented “all white farmers” killed in South Africa, framing the scene as evidence of racial persecution.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, visibly uncomfortable, responded calmly, asking where the video was filmed, noting he had never seen such a site. Trump vaguely replied, “It’s in South Africa,” offering no specifics. Ramaphosa pushed back, emphasizing that South Africa’s high crime rate affects all racial groups, with the majority of victims being Black. He also clarified that inflammatory rhetoric in the video, including clips of opposition politicians like Julius Malema chanting “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer,” did not reflect government policy. Trump interrupted, insisting, “The farmers are not Black,” and accused South Africa of allowing land seizures that lead to the murder of white farmers, claims Ramaphosa and his delegation, including white Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, firmly rejected.
Trump also presented a stack of printed articles, claiming they documented recent killings of white farmers. He flipped through them, repeating, “Death, death, horrible death,” and pointed to an image of body bags, asserting it showed “white farmers that are being buried.” However, the image was later traced to a Reuters report from the Democratic Republic of Congo, depicting humanitarian workers handling bodies after a conflict in Goma—completely unrelated to South Africa. This series of misrepresentations, delivered in a high-stakes diplomatic setting, not only strained U.S.-South Africa relations but also amplified a long-debunked narrative about “white genocide” in South Africa.
The Truth Behind the Video: A Memorial, Not a Graveyard
The video Trump presented was quickly identified as footage from a September 5, 2020, memorial procession near Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The event was organized to honor Glen and Vida Rafferty, a white farming couple murdered on their farm in late August 2020. According to local reports, volunteers placed white crosses along the roadside as a temporary tribute, symbolizing farmers killed over time, not marking actual graves. The procession included hundreds of vehicles, tractors adorned with flags condemning farm murders, and a banner reading, “President Ramaphosa, how many more must die???” The crosses were removed after the event, as confirmed by Google Street View images from 2023 and statements from organizers like Rob Hoatson, who told media, “It’s not a burial site, but it was a memorial.”
The video also included clips of Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a small opposition party, singing “Kill the Boer,” an anti-apartheid struggle song, and former President Jacob Zuma, now with the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party. These clips, often shared on social media to stoke fears of racial violence, were presented without context. Ramaphosa clarified that the EFF and MK are minority parties, not part of the governing coalition, and their rhetoric does not represent South Africa’s official stance. South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled that “Kill the Boer,” when sung in protest, is not a literal call to violence but a symbolic expression of historical resistance, a nuance Trump’s presentation ignored.
The misrepresentation of the video was not an isolated error. Trump’s claim that an image of body bags showed “white farmers” was equally false, as it originated from a conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These inaccuracies, combined with Trump’s dramatic delivery, suggest a deliberate attempt to push a narrative that aligns with fringe claims of “white genocide,” a theory long propagated by white nationalist groups and amplified by figures like Elon Musk, a South African-born Trump adviser present at the meeting.
South Africa’s Farm Violence: Facts vs. Fiction
South Africa has one of the world’s highest murder rates, with 26,232 murders recorded in 2024 by the South African Police Service (SAPS). Of these, 44 were linked to farming communities, including eight farmers, with the rest being farm workers, residents, or security personnel. Official data does not break down victims by race, but the Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU), which represents farmers, estimates 1,363 white farmers have been killed since 1990, averaging about 40 per year—less than 1% of the national murder total. In contrast, 225 farm-related killings from 2021 to 2024 included 101 Black workers and 53 farmers, mostly white, showing that rural violence affects multiple groups.
Experts like Gareth Newham from the Institute for Security Studies emphasize that farm attacks are primarily driven by robbery, not racial or political motives. “Attacks where there may be evidence of racial or political motives are exceedingly rare,” Newham noted, citing cases where slogans or slurs are reported as exceptions, not the norm. The majority of South Africa’s murder victims are poor, young Black males in urban areas, not rural farmers. Claims of “genocide,” which require intent to destroy a group under the UN definition, are unsupported by evidence. A February 2025 South African court ruling dismissed “white genocide” as “clearly imagined and not real,” a stance echoed by farmers’ unions like TLU-SA and the Southern African Agri Initiative, which reject Trump’s narrative.
Trump’s claims about land seizures are similarly misleading. South Africa’s Expropriation Act, signed in January 2025, allows the government to seize land without compensation in rare cases to address apartheid-era inequalities, where 7% of the population (mostly white) owns 72% of farmland. However, no land has been expropriated under this law, and the government prioritizes negotiated sales. Bloomberg reported in May 2025 that no seizures or confiscations have occurred, and isolated land grabs have been addressed legally. Trump’s assertion that “they take the land, they kill the white farmer” lacks evidence, as does his claim that perpetrators face no consequences.
Historical Context: Apartheid’s Legacy and Land Inequality
South Africa’s racial tensions are rooted in its history of apartheid, a system of white-minority rule from 1948 to 1994 that disenfranchised the Black majority (81% of the 2022 population) and privileged the white minority (7%). Apartheid laws, like the 1913 Natives Land Act, restricted Black land ownership, resulting in white farmers owning most arable land. Post-apartheid reforms, led by the African National Congress (ANC) under leaders like Nelson Mandela and now Ramaphosa, have sought to redress this imbalance, but progress has been slow. By 2017, 80% of commercial farmland remained in white hands, while Black farmers owned just 4%, fueling calls for land reform.
The Expropriation Act is part of this effort, aiming to redistribute land “in the public interest” while protecting economic stability. Critics, including some white farmers, fear it could lead to Zimbabwe-style land grabs, but Ramaphosa’s government has emphasized constitutional safeguards and negotiation. Trump’s framing of the law as discriminatory ignores its intent to address historical injustices, a point Ramaphosa stressed in the Oval Office, noting that South Africa’s multi-party democracy allows diverse views but prioritizes unity.
The “Kill the Boer” song, featured in Trump’s video, is a flashpoint in this debate. Sung during the anti-apartheid struggle, it refers to Afrikaners (descendants of Dutch and French settlers) who dominated apartheid governance. While provocative, its use by figures like Malema is protected as free speech, and courts have ruled it does not incite violence. Trump’s focus on the song, without acknowledging its historical context, distorts its significance and amplifies fear.
The Role of Disinformation: Musk, Social Media, and Global Narratives
The video Trump showed was reportedly shared on X by Elon Musk, who has posted it multiple times, including in March 2025, claiming it showed evidence of “white genocide.” Musk, born in South Africa and a key Trump adviser, has a history of amplifying claims about anti-white violence, often citing Malema’s rhetoric. Posts on X from users like @realMaalouf also circulated the Newcastle video, misrepresenting it as a graveyard. These posts, while influential, are not conclusive evidence, but they reflect a broader trend of disinformation that shapes global perceptions of South Africa.
The “white genocide” narrative has been propagated by white nationalist groups since the 1990s, gaining traction in far-right circles in the U.S. and Europe. Figures like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson have echoed these claims, as have fringe South African groups. Trump’s decision to grant refugee status to 59 Afrikaners in May 2025, citing “racial persecution,” further legitimized this narrative, despite denials from South African farmers like Willem de Chavonnes Vrugt, who told media, “There’s no genocide that would make us flee.” The fast-tracking of Afrikaner refugees, while halting admissions from other countries, has drawn criticism for prioritizing a small group over broader humanitarian needs.
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