Washington – President Donald Trump will welcome South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to the White House on Wednesday in order to improve relations between the two countries after months of tensions.
The United States has admitted 59 white South Africans as a refugee this month after stating that they were fleeing violence and discrimination. Trump and the best advisor Elon Musk, Who was born in South Africa, said that the Afrikaners, the white descendants of the Dutch and French settlers, were targets of a “genocide”. South African leaders fiercely challenged the claims.
“We all know that the South Africans, in black and white, that there is no genocide here,” said Ramaphosa last week in a seeo stock up on X. “We are not genocidal. We do not commit any act of hatred, act of remuneration or violence against anyone.”
Ramaphosa told journalists on Tuesday That his visit Wednesday would focus on potential commercial and investment transactions, as well as to “consolidate the good relations between our two countries”.
Trump has acicé South Africa to be “terrible” towards farmers, and in February, he said that the United States would reduce aid to the country, alleging On social truth that South Africa “treated some classes of people very badly”.
The White House has also criticized the law of expropriation in South Africa in South Africa, which allows the government, in some cases, to seize unused land without compensation or when there is a public interest to redistribute it (a process similar to the eminent domain laws in the United States.)
Ramaphosa said in February that his government had not confiscated land.
“The law on expropriation recently adopted is not an instrument of confiscation, but a legal process mandated by the Constitution which guarantees public access to the lands in a fair and just guided by the Constitution”, ” He said on x.
However, the White House affirmed that the law was a “shocking contempt for the rights of its citizens” and alleged that it followed actions “fueling disproportionate violence against the racially disadvantaged land owners”. The administration used the act for prioritize refugees Entrance and resettlement For Afrikaners, arguing that white South Africans were “victims of unjust racial discrimination”.
Trump allegedly alleged that South Africa was experiencing a “genocide”, adding, they are white, but that they are white or black make no difference for me. “”
There were 12 murders in farms last year, THe reported Associated Pressquoting police statistics. According to the AP. White farmers have approximately three -quarters of private land from South Africa, according to government data.
The Afrikaners are minority white descendants of the Dutch and French settlers who governed the country during the apartheid regime, which ended in 1994. During the domination of apartheid, the Afrikaners applied racial segregation and confiscated the land of black residents.
The United States has admitted Afrikaner refugees even though the Trump administration closed the admission of refugees from most other countries, including Afghanistan, Sudan and Myanmar.
The X has the government of South Africa poster in February That “we are impatient to engage with the Trump administration on our policy of agrarian reform and questions of bilateral interest”.
“We are sure that by these commitments, we will share a better and common understanding on these questions,” continued the post.
The United States and South Africa also pushed heads above the War of Israel-Hamas, after South Africa accused Israel of having committed a genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. South Africa led a case to the United Nations International Court of Justice.
The White House referred to the allegations of genocide in February of Trump executive decree Centered on Afrikaner refugees, saying that “South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies”.
