Trump Mischaracterizes South African Video as Evidence of “White Genocide”

During a high-profile Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on May 21, former President Donald Trump presented what he claimed was evidence of a “white genocide” in South Africa. Trump had a staffer dim the lights to show a video that he described as depicting “burial sites” for over a thousand white farmers along a roadway.

“These are burial sites, right here. Burial sites — over a thousand of white farmers,” Trump said, pointing to an aerial view of a rural highway lined with white crosses. “Each one of those white things you see is a cross and there’s approximately a thousand of them. They’re all white farmers.”

A visibly confused Ramaphosa responded, “I’d like to know where that is, because, this — I’ve never seen.”

The video, however, did not show burial sites as Trump claimed. It actually depicted a 2020 demonstration organized to raise awareness about violence against farmers in South Africa following the murder of Glen and Vida Rafferty, who were killed during a robbery at their farmhouse in Normandien, about 200 miles southeast of Johannesburg. The crosses were placed along the P39 highway as symbolic memorials to draw attention to farmers who have been killed over the years.

Notably, one of the demonstration’s organizers, farmer Darell Brown, explained in an interview with South Africa’s public broadcasting news service that the protest was not focused exclusively on white farmers: “The message we’re trying to convey is: farm murders must stop. I don’t mean just murders of white commercial farmers. Farm murders must stop.”

Another participant, Bob Hoatson, told South African news website IOL that the initiative was intended for “people from all walks of life who were concerned about farm murders,” not specifically white farmers.

Trump’s characterization comes a week after the U.S. accepted what he described as the first white South African refugees, whom he has portrayed as victims of genocide. This narrative has gained traction in certain political circles despite being repeatedly refuted by experts.

While violence against farmers in South Africa is a legitimate concern, experts maintain that framing it as a “white genocide” misrepresents the situation. According to police data, murders on farms constitute less than 1% of all homicides in South Africa. In 2022-23, authorities recorded 51 murders on farms (not delineated by race) out of nearly 27,500 murders nationwide.

“On average, 76 people are murdered in South Africa every day according to 2023/2024 official police statistics,” said Lizette Lancaster of the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa. “Robberies and murders on farms are recognised as a serious problem by all sectors of society,” she added, but “almost all South Africans from all walks of life will agree that there is no white genocide.”

Experts point to the country’s complex socioeconomic landscape as context for understanding these crimes. Most violent acts against farmers occur during robberies in a country where wealth and land ownership remain concentrated among a white minority despite the end of apartheid decades ago. According to a 2017 land audit commissioned by the South African government, white people own approximately 72% of farm and agricultural holdings while comprising just 7% of the population.

During the Oval Office meeting, Trump also claimed that “when they kill the white farmer, nothing happens to them,” suggesting a lack of justice. This assertion is contradicted by evidence, including the case of the Rafferty murders, where three men have been convicted and are currently serving prison sentences.

Lancaster refuted the notion that authorities are complicit in or ignoring crimes against farmers: “Government, public sector and community partnerships are yielding results. Farm murders have gone down, rural safety strategies are now in place, and there is nothing particularly exceptional about how gruesome these murders are when you look at the scale of violence in townships, for example.”

Following the Rafferty murders, then-Deputy President David Mabuza convened a meeting to address violence against farmers, stating, “The lives of farmers, farm workers and farm dwellers as well as every citizen of the country, black and white, matters.”

While South Africa continues to struggle with high rates of violent crime that affect all segments of society, the evidence does not support claims of a targeted campaign against white farmers or the existence of a “white genocide.”