‘There is doubt in Trump’s head about genocide in SA,’ Ramaphosa says [VIDEO]

President Cyril Ramaphosa says it is unfair to compare the treatment of black people under apartheid to what his counterpart, US President Donald Trump, believes is happening to white Afrikaners in the country.

Ramaphosa and Trump met at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.

The meeting between Trump and Ramaphosa started off with an amicable discussion, but later descended into chaos and shifted to the topic of violence against white farmers and Afrikaners in South Africa.

‘No genocide’

In a high-stakes confrontation, Trump ambushed Ramaphosa with graphic footage alleging “white genocide” against South African farmers.

While Ramaphosa remained calm and handled the situation well, rejecting Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread killings of Afrikaners, he emphasised that the situation cannot be equated to the oppression of black South Africans under apartheid.

“There’s no genocide in South Africa, and of course, it is an issue of how one looks at it,” he said. “As they say, sometimes the shape of the mountain depends on which point or direction you’re looking at it. In this case, we cannot equate what is alleged to be genocide to what we went through in the struggle because people were killed, because of the oppression that was taking place in our country.”

WATCH Ramaphosa speaking about there being ‘no genocide in South Africa’

[WATCH] President Cyril Ramaphosa says there is no genocide in South Africa. pic.twitter.com/j0GZ05psb0

— SABC News (@SABCNews) May 21, 2025

ALSO READ: WATCH: Donald Trump ambushes Cyril Ramaphosa in Oval Office

‘Trump open to persuasion’

However, Ramaphosa suggested that Trump remained open to persuasion

“When he was asked by one of you – and thank God one of you asked, whether he was convinced that there was genocide, he said he still isn’t convinced. Much as he played the video and all those press clippings, in the end, I do believe that there’s doubt and disbelief in his head about all this.”

Earlier, Ramaphosa said Trump must listen to the voices of South Africans.

“It will take President Trump listening to the voices of South Africans, some of whom are his good friends, like the ones who are here. I’m not going to be repeating what I have been saying. If there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you these three gentlemen wouldn’t be here, including my minister of agriculture,” Ramaphosa said.

Trump claims refuted

Agriculture Minister and DA leader John also dismissed Trump’s claims of genocide against white Afrikaners.

Steenhuisen said the country has prioritised protecting white farmers, including preventing livestock theft.

Renowned businessman Johann Rupert, who was also part of Ramaphosa’s delegation, put paid to the “white genocide” narrative Trump seemed so fond of.

Rupert said crime is a South African problem, and it occurs everywhere.

“We have too many deaths, but it’s across the board. It’s not only white farmers. It is across the board.”

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