WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will host South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday in an effort to improve relations between the two countries after months of tensions.
The United States admitted 59 white South Africans as refugees this month after they claimed they were fleeing violence and discrimination. Trump and top adviser Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, have claimed the Afrikaners, white descendants of Dutch and French settlers, were targets of a “genocide.” South African leaders have fiercely disputed the claims.
“We all know as South Africans, both Black and white, that there’s no genocide here,” Ramaphosa said last week in a video clip on X. “We are not genocidal. We are not committing any act of hatred, act of retribution or violence against anyone.”
Ramaphosa told reporters Tuesday that his visit Wednesday would focus on potential trade and investment deals, as well as aim to “consolidate good relations between our two countries.”
Trump has accused South Africa of being “terrible” to farmers, and in February he said the United States would cut off aid to the country, alleging on Truth Social that South Africa was “treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY.”
The White House has also criticized South Africa’s 2024 Expropriation Act, which allows the government, in some cases, to seize unused land without compensation or when there is public interest in redistributing it (a process similar to eminent domain laws in the United States.)
Ramaphosa said in February that his government has not confiscated land.
“The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution,” he said on X.
Still, the White House claimed that the law was a “shocking disregard of its citizens’ rights” and alleged that it followed actions “fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.” The administration used the act to prioritize refugee admission and resettlement for Afrikaners, arguing the white South Africans were “victims of unjust racial discrimination.”
Trump alleged that South Africa was experiencing a “genocide,” adding, “They happen to be white, but whether they’re white or Black makes no difference to me.”
There were 12 murders on farms last year, The Associated Press reported, citing police statistics. One of the victims was a farmer, and the rest were farmworkers, none of whom were identified by race, according to the AP. White farmers own roughly three-quarters of South Africa’s privately owned land, according to government data.
Afrikaners are minority white descendants of Dutch and French settlers who ruled the country during the apartheid regime, which ended in 1994. During apartheid rule, Afrikaners enforced racial segregation and confiscated land from Black residents.
The United States admitted the Afrikaner refugees even as the Trump administration has shut down admitting refugees from most other countries, including Afghanistan, Sudan and Myanmar.
The X account for South Africa’s government posted in February that “we look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest.”
“We are certain that out of those engagements, we will share a better and common understanding over these matters,” the post continued.
The U.S. and South Africa have also butted heads over the Israel-Hamas war, after South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. South Africa is leading a case in the United Nation’s International Court of Justice.
The White House referred to the genocide allegations in Trump’s February executive order centering on Afrikaner refugees, saying that “South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies.”
