Local and international media outlets have moved swiftly to debunk a series of misleading claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump during a tense Oval Office press briefing with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday.
READ: Ramaphosa’s Oval Office visit overshadowed by ‘white genocide’ claims
In a dramatic exchange, Trump presented a portfolio of materials promoting a narrative that white farmers in South Africa are being systematically murdered. Among the misleading evidence was protest footage from 2020, which Trump misrepresented as evidence of mass graves.
The footage, broadcast globally, showed an aerial view of thousands of white crosses positioned beside a rural road. Trump repeatedly referred to the site as a “burial ground” for over a thousand Afrikaners allegedly murdered in recent years. In reality, the crosses were a symbolic protest against the killing of Glen and Vida Rafferty on their farm in Normandien.
Trump also brandished newspaper clippings, including one from a conservative blog, which misleadingly portrayed violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as related to South African farm murders.
The article, featuring an image of body bags, was a screenshot from a Reuters video shot in Goma, DRC, in February. It showed humanitarian workers handling body bags following deadly clashes involving Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The content was later republished by American Thinker, a conservative online publication.
Despite its origin, Trump held up the image and falsely claimed, “These are all white farmers that are being buried.”
However, crime data contradicts Trump’s assertions. According to the most recent South African Police Service statistics—from April to December 2024—there were 19,696 recorded murders nationwide. Of these, only 36 were linked to incidents on farms. Just seven of those victims were farmers; the remaining 29 were farm workers.
The numbers indicate that while crime remains a serious issue in South Africa, there is no substantiated evidence to support the claim of a targeted genocide against white farmers.
WATCH: Ramaphosa hails US visit as success, rejects ‘white genocide’ claims
