Is ‘White genocide' really taking place in South Africa? Fact-checking Donald Trump's bombshell claim

Hindustan Times

21-05-2025

In recent months, Donald Trump has become fixated on South Africa due to claims that Afrikaners, a White ethnic minority, have been indiscriminately persecuted. In February, the US President issued an executive order to suspend foreign aid to South Africa due to allegations that the government led by Cyril Ramaphosa 'radically disfavored landowners.'
Earlier this month, the Trump administration received a plane with 49 Afrikaners who were granted refugee status, with President claiming that they are 'losing their land in South Africa and are targets of genocide.'
Considering the administration's broader suspension of the refugee program and immigration enforcement measures, the action deemed as a surprise.
In response to a reporter's question on May 12 about why he established a swift path for Afrikaners, Trump stated, 'Because they're being killed. And we don't want to see people be killed. But it's a genocide that's taking place that you people don't want to write about.'
'White farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa,' he added.
The South African government condemned Trump's executive order of February 7 regarding Afrikaner resettlement in the U.S.
'It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship,' the statement said.
Trump claimed that a genocide against White people was happening in South Africa, a statement that Ramaphosa and other South Africans have strongly refuted.
After journalists inquired about his assertions of genocide, Trump took a moment to showcase a series of video clips on a TV in the Oval office, which he contended substantiated his assertions.
In response to the montage featuring individuals discussing "cutting the throat" and shooting White people, Ramaphosa stated that these remarks do not represent government policy. Later, the minister of agriculture in South Africa stated that several individuals depicted in the montage belong to minority parties that are not included in the ruling coalition of the country.
'We have a multi-party democracy in South Africa that allows people to express themselves,' he asserted.
When asked if he condemned the language used in the video, Ramaphosa responded, 'Oh, yes.'
Last week, Ramaphosa shared a video clip on X, saying that 'We all know as South Africans, both Black and White, that there's no genocide here.'
'We are not genocidal. We are not committing any act of hatred, act of retribution or violence against anyone,' he added.
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The White genocide is a theory rooted in White nationalism that posits that there is a calculated scheme to eliminate White people through forced assimilation, violent genocide, or mass immigration. It is referred to as the theories of White extinction, White replacement, and White genocide.
The Genocide Convention, an international treaty that criminalizes genocide, defines it as the killing of members of a group due to their race, religion, or national origin, exemplified by the Holocaust.
In South Africa, there have been murders of White farmers. However, these murders represent under 1% of the over 27,000 murders that occur annually across the country, PBS reported. According to experts, the number of deaths does not constitute genocide, and Trump provides misleading information regarding land confiscation.
Gareth Newham, director of a justice and violence prevention program at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, called the notion of a 'White genocide' occurring in South Africa 'completely false'.
'As an independent Institute tracking violence and violent crime in South Africa, if there was any evidence of either a genocide or targeted violence taking place against any group based on their ethnicity this, we would be amongst the first to raise (the) alarm and provide the evidence to the world.'
In South Africa, there are approximately 2.7 million white Afrikaners, who trace their ancestry back to Dutch and French settlers. Roughly 80% of the population in South Africa consists of Black individuals. South Africa was under apartheid rule from 1948 to the early 1990s, a system of racial segregation that granted power exclusively to White people and mandated separate living for Black South Africans.
The White House did not supply any data when PBS requested for proof of Trump's statements. An official representative stated that Afrikaners informed American authorities of violent attacks, threats to life, vandalism, and racial insults directed at farmers.
Dr. de Jager, who leads the Southern African Agri Initiative, informed DW that the farm attacks do not constitute genocide and provide no justification for fleeing.
In South Africa, White individuals are not as likely to be murder victims compared to Black individuals. Genocide Watch has stated that although White people constitute 8% of the South African population, they account for only 2% of murder victims.
On May 9, the South African government stated that the South Africa Police Services statistics on farm-related crimes do not substantiate claims of violent crime aimed at farmers in general or any specific race.
According to Mandeep Tiwana, chief officer of evidence and engagement at the South Africa-based human rights advocacy organization CIVICUS, genocide is clearly defined, and the situation involving White South Africans in South Africa does not match that definition, as per USA Today.
'In fact, White South Africans are a privileged minority,' he added.