Trump Falsely Claims South Africa Experiencing Genocide

South African Farmer Violence: Trump’s “Genocide” Claim Lacks Evidence, Experts Say

President Donald Trump’s recent characterization of violence against white South African farmers as “genocide” has drawn criticism from experts who say the term misrepresents a complex situation. The controversy arose after Trump’s administration made an exception to its refugee admission restrictions specifically for white Afrikaners from South Africa.

“Because they’re being killed and we don’t want to see people be killed,” Trump explained at a May 12 press conference when asked why his administration was welcoming white South Africans as refugees.

While experts acknowledge that violence against farmers is a real concern in South Africa, they emphasize this violence must be understood within the broader context of the country’s high crime rates, socioeconomic disparities, and historical inequalities.

“Yes, white farmers are being killed in South Africa,” said Jean-Yves Camus, co-director of the Observatory of Political Radicalism at the Jean Jaurès Foundation in Paris. “However, there is nothing like a ‘white genocide.’ And the issue needs to be seen in the broader context of a country plagued by crime and gang activity.”

Statistics show approximately 50 farm murders occur annually in South Africa, accounting for less than 1% of all murders in the country. According to the Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa, there were 32 farm murders in 2024, down from 50 in 2023 and 43 in 2022.

“Murder victimization is far more correlated to class, gender and location than race,” explained Lizette Lancaster of the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa. “From the available evidence, white people are the least at risk of being murdered… with [Black] African people being the most at risk.”

Anthony Kaziboni, a sociologist at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Social Development in Africa, noted that South Africa must be understood through its “broader socio-economic and historical context.” The country faces “extreme inequality, with approximately 10% of the population (largely white) owning over 80% of the wealth,” he said.

On February 7, Trump issued an order creating an exception for South Africa’s Afrikaner ethnic group, calling them “victims of unjust racial discrimination” and directing that “the United States shall promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.”

The “property confiscation” reference relates to a law signed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in January that permits government land expropriation in limited circumstances without compensation. This legislation aims to address historical land ownership imbalances resulting from colonialism and apartheid.

According to a 2017 government land audit, white South Africans owned approximately 72% of farm and agricultural holdings despite comprising just 7% of the population. This disparity stems largely from the 1913 Natives Land Act, which restricted Black land ownership during British rule.

Ramaphosa defended the law on social media, stating, “The South African government has not confiscated any 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.”

When the first 59 Afrikaner refugees arrived in the U.S. on May 12, Trump described the situation in South Africa as “a genocide that’s taking place that you people don’t want to write about.” He added, “It’s a terrible thing that’s taking place. And farmers are being killed.”

The United Nations defines genocide as acts committed with the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” Experts unanimously agree that South Africa’s farm violence does not meet this definition.

President Ramaphosa rejected Trump’s assessment, stating that Afrikaners “don’t fit that bill” of refugees fleeing persecution. In February, a South African court declared that a “white genocide” was “clearly imagined and not real.”

Camus noted that farm violence “is used as a political weapon by the Far-Right” despite being a legitimate concern. Lancaster pointed out that robbery is a leading motive in farm attacks, with the isolation of farms making them vulnerable targets.

A 2003 government inquiry found that approximately 90% of farm attacks were motivated by robbery, not politics. The report’s investigating officers “are of the view that farm attacks are not politically motivated and that there is no evidence of an organized structure behind the attacks.”

As Kaziboni concluded, “Describing farm killings as genocide is a gross mischaracterization. This does not diminish the seriousness of these crimes, nor the need for targeted rural safety interventions. But it is essential to approach such topics with clarity and care, grounded in credible evidence and context.”