International relations minister Ronald Lamola's comments about white supremacy further fracture SA-US relations.
Political relations between South Africa and the USA have been strained further after international relations and cooperation minister Ronald Lamola accused America’s leaders of pursuing a “white supremacy” agenda.
Since US President Donald Trump took office at the start of the year, the US has cancelled aid funding to South Africa, issued an executive order against the country alleging human rights violations, offered refugee status to white “farmers”, and expelled former Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool for his criticism of the Trump administration.
Trump attempted to ambush a meeting between Ramaphosa and himself at the White House in May with “evidence” of alleged “white genocide”, and after speaking badly about the country on the international stage for months, he boycotted the G20 Leaders’ Summit to be held in South Africa this week.
While Lamola has often pushed against the narrative of white genocide and encouraged Trump to visit the country to investigate the claims. He has also called for a resetting of bilateral trade relations between the two countries.
‘White supremacy agenda’
Reflecting on the May meeting in the Oval Office, Lamola told CNN‘s Donie O’Sullivan that he believed Trump was pursuing a white supremacy agenda.
“It was excruciatingly difficult [to see] that there’s fearmongering to pursue the agenda of white supremacy.”
In an interview with O’Sullivan to air on Monday morning in South Africa, Lamola said, “The programme to take white Afrikaners from South Africa is a clear programme to back up white supremacy. When you look at the Geneva Convention, they (the Afrikaners) do not fit the definition of a refugee.”
The White House disputed the claims, telling the broadcaster that Trump was approaching the refugee issue with “a humanitarian heart”.
What do ‘refugees’ say?
One of those who took Trump up on the offer said he believed there was a genocide in South Africa because “they want it to be a black country”.
“If that is not the definition of genocide, then I don’t know what is.
“It is not just about murders but eradication by any means,” said Errol Langton in a clip from an interview.
ALSO READ: Trump has ‘prioritised’ refugee admissions for Afrikaners, US State Department says
Not deterring travellers
While politicians on both sides of the Atlantic slug it out, more Americans are visiting SA for themselves.
33 985 visited South Africa in September, surpassing those of the UK and Germany. 18% more travellers than the same period last year. Previous months have also seen large amounts of visitors from America, exceeding those of 2024.
No US to take the baton at G20
The US boycott of the G20 summit this week means they will not symbolically take over the baton of leadership of the group, with Ramaphosa joking that he may have to hand over the reins to an empty chair.
“Trump has decided not to come, and he’s pulled out all the US representatives. But we have said that boycott politics never work. If you boycott an event or a process, you… [lose] because the show will go on.
“I have said in the past, I don’t want to hand over to an empty chair, but the empty chair will be there. [We will] probably symbolically hand over to that empty chair and then talk to President Trump,” Ramaphosa said.
He earlier said their absence was “their loss”.
“In many ways, the United States is also giving up the very important role that it should be playing as the biggest economy in the world,” he added.
NOW READ: ‘White supremacy’ or kind hearted? SA-US relations takes another sour turn
