The 21st of May was a day like any other. Birds were chirping, South Africans were braaiing, the globe was warming…so pretty much business as usual. What was not usual was what occurred in a land far far away. Where two presidents, a couple of golfers and billionaires held a meeting in the Oval Office to deal with a very pressing political issue. For just over an hour, Cyril Ramaphosa and Donald Trump discussed the situation which I can only call the Afrikaner pseudo-refugee crisis. The only real crisis here being the fact that Trump got involved in a situation about which he was ill-informed.  

Earlier this year, the Trump Administration granted white South African Afrikaners refugee status, resting on the claim that there is a ‘white genocide’ in South Africa, particularly experienced by farmers. Trump halted aid and flew a group of Afrikaners to the states to show how he was combatting this ‘genocide’. Thus arose a number of reasons for this meeting. For the most part it was diplomatic, and it must be noted that Ramaphosa acted with grace and true Africanacity. There are a few aspects to this meeting which must be addressed to gain the big picture of what occurred and what it means for us regular joes in SA.

Firstly, my own critique. Throughout the meeting, Trump refers consistently to Africa. As if South Africa is not one part of a whole but merely just the whole. This is not a grammatical error or oversight; it is an ignorant choice of words. His reference to interference in Rwanda and Congo furthers this narrative, as it is the DRC he is referring to and not Congo. For too long, The West have seen themselves as the heroes of the African continent and used it as a playground for publicised ‘peace-making’. Aid is needed, but let’s start by knowing the names of the countries we are assisting. 

Now, into the meeting’s content. Much talk was had over the need for America’s assistance in helping South Africa with technology, resources and crimefighting. It was obvious to all viewers that the South African delegation was simply trying to make peace to avoid conflict and severed ties with the USA. This is for two key reasons, the G20 which is approaching soon and the fact that America is a key role player for South African foreign investment and a key trade partner. Trump ‘investigated’ this ‘white genocide’ by presenting videos of Julius Malema in parliament shouting, “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer”, inflammatory news articles from unreliable sources about farmer deaths and a supposed mass burial site. 

Each of these pieces of ‘evidence’ has a well-justified rebuttal, and you should go and Google those if you are interested to know, as much of it was twisted to suit Trump’s agenda. The point was not to overlook farmers’ deaths, as John Steenhuisen pointed out, but to address and dismiss the statement at hand. There is no ‘white genocide’ currently occurring in South Africa.  

Trump said in the meeting: “it’s a terrible sight; I have never seen anything like it”, referring to the ‘burial site‘ – which was in fact a memorial tribute as opposed to graves. Quite a strange statement considering the state of the world at the moment? If you’ve never seen anything that bad, Trump, you might need to spend less time on X and more time watching the news. One thing which I must award the US president with was his critique of the reporters, as they were constantly swaying from the topic at hand, and he made a point that maybe the media needs to reassess their priorities if their biggest story is the jet that Trump had received earlier that month.

A great point which Trump himself brought up was that certain things that are happening in the South African Parliament would never be allowed in his administration. This is for very good reason. Our democracies look different; they serve different cultures and are run in vastly separate ways by different parties. The South African government cannot run the way the United States does and vice versa. As Zingiswa Losi, head of COSATU, stated in the meeting: what South Africa needs more than ever is aid to stop criminality. 

As young people at home and around South Africa, it is important to know what’s cooking abroad and how it affects us. For now, we just need to look to the future and watch closely as we host the next G20 summit in November of this year. There will be much to watch, much to learn and with a bunch of loud leaders, charismatic presidents and overzealous individuals, there will be much entertainment as well. I have no doubt that Ramaphosa will approach this meeting with the same patience he exhibited in the Oval Office earlier this year.