OUTRAGE continued to mount today after United States President Donald Trump falsely accused South African President Cyril Ramaphosa of the systematic killing of white farmers.

President Trump dimmed the lights of the Oval Office to play a video of left-wing politician Julius Malema chanting an old anti-apartheid song that includes the lyrics “kill the farmer.” 

Mr Trump then proceeded to display news articles and photos to highlight his accusation that white farmers have faced “death, death, death, horrible death” at the hands of Mr Ramaphosa’s government.

One of the photos was later revealed to be a screenshot from a video taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo in February 2025, showing Red Cross workers responding after women were raped and burned alive during a mass jailbreak in the Congolese city of Goma.

Mr Trump had already cut all US assistance to South Africa and welcomed several dozen white South African farmers to the US as refugees as he pressed the case that a “genocide” is underway in the country.

Since returning to office, Mr Trump has launched a series of accusations against the ANC-led government, claiming it is seizing land from white farmers, enforcing anti-white policies and pursuing an anti-US foreign policy.

The executive order breaking off support for South Africa made it clear that one reason for the attack was “accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide” in the International Court of Justice.

Experts in South Africa say there is no evidence of white people being targeted for their race, although farmers of all races are victims of violent home invasions in a country with a high crime rate.

At one point Zingiswa Losi, president of the Confederation of South African Trade Unions, told President Trump: “The problem in South Africa, it is not necessarily about race, but it’s about crime.”

President Ramaphosa insisted after the meeting that “there is no genocide in South Africa,” and that “you wanted to see drama and something big happening. I’m sorry that we disappointed you somewhat.”

Some South Africans praised President Ramaphosa’s calm during the Oval Office meeting.

“What else could Cyril have done?” said Milton Nkosi, a senior research fellow at the Africa Asia Dialogues think tank. “You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I think they were caught completely unawares. How on Earth could you have planned for that?”

But Johannesburg student Dumisani Mnisi said: “I honestly don’t understand why Ramaphosa is actually in the US when President Trump has made it very clear how he feels about South Africa.”