South Africans exasperated by Trump false claims during Ramaphosa meeting

 South Africans ex­pressed dismay on Thurs­day at how U.S. Presi­dent Donald Trump’s false claims of a white genocide dominated a conversation with President Cyril Ramaphosa, and many wondered if his trip to Washington was worth the trouble.

Ramaphosa included popular white South African golfers in his delegation and he had hoped talks with Trump in the White House on Wednesday would reset relations with the United States, which have nosedived since the U.S. leader took office in January.

But Trump spent most of the conversation confronting his visitor with false claims that South Africa’s white minority farmers are being systematically murdered and having their land seized.

“He didn’t get Zelenskyed. That’s what we have to hang onto (He) did not get personally insulted by the world’s most horrible duo of play­ground bullies,” Rebecca Davis of the national Daily Maverick wrote.

At a February White House meet­ing, Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, calling him ungrateful for U.S. military aid, and Zelenskiy heatedly tried to argue his case.

For some, though, Ramaphosa’s cool composure raised the question of what was achieved by his having subjected himself to the onslaught.

“I don’t think it was the right call. I don’t think we need to explain our­selves to USA,” 40-year-old Sobelo Motha, a member of a trade union, said on the streets of Johannesburg.

“We … we know there’s no white genocide. So for me, it was pointless exercise.”

The South African president arrived prepared for an aggressive reception given actions in recent months by Trump, who has canceled aid to South Africa, offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners, expelled the country’s ambassador and criti­cised its genocide court case against Israel.

But throughout, Trump wanted only to discuss the treatment of white South Africans, playing a video and leafing through articles that he said proved his allegations.

—Reuters

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