The SA delegation struck a positive tone after their closed-door session at the White House, which followed at times dramatic televised scenes in the Oval Office where Trump confronted Ramaphosa about the killings of White farmers, again describing it as a “genocide”.

Ramaphosa pushed back, explaining that there was criminality in SA that affected all races.

Oval Office showdown

It’s been described as an ambush, within minutes of Ramaphosa’s arrival, his delegation and the media hurriedly ushered into the Oval Office for an episode of political theatre that has now become commonplace in this White House.

Trump says, “A lot of people are very concerned with regards to SA

And that’s really the purpose of the meeting. And we’ll see how that turns out. But we have many people that feel they’re being persecuted and they’re coming to the US And we take from many, many locations if we feel there’s persecution or genocide going on. And we had a lot of people, I must tell you, Mr. President, we have had a tremendous number of people, especially since they’ve seen this.”

Despite the barrage of misplaced claims, including that when white people were murdered, their land was confiscated, even at one point likening it to a reversal of Apartheid.

Ramaphosa pushed back firmly but with a clear intention not to upset the entire apple cart.

“There is criminality in our country. People who do get killed, unfortunately, through criminal activity are not only white people. The majority of them are black people.”

Then responding to an extraordinary moment when the lights were dimmed in the Oval, and a television screen wheeled in to play a video that in part showed Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema singing the “Kill the Boer” chant to a packed stadium and footage of a road populated with white crosses as a reflection of white farm murders in SA.

“Let me clarify that, let me clarify that because what you saw, the speeches that are being made, one, that is not government policy. We have a multiparty democracy in SA that allows people to express themselves, political parties to adhere to various policies. And in many cases, or in some cases, those policies do not go along with government policy. Our government policy is completely, completely against what he was saying, even in the Parliament, and they are a small minority party which is allowed to exist in terms of our Constitution,” explains Ramaphosa.

There was also pushback from within the SA delegation, including Remgro Chair Johann Rupert.

“We have too many deaths, but it’s across the board. It’s not only white farmers, it’s across the board. We need technological help. We need Starlink at every little police station. We need drones.”

Or Cosatu President Zingiswa Losi saying, “The problem in SA is not necessarily about race, but it is about crime. And we think that we are here to see how we do both nations work together to reset, to really talk about investment, but also help us in how we can have the technology and everything that is needed, President.”

Later, at a separate briefing, Ramaphosa struck a positive tone on the road ahead, including greater participation of the US in the G20 and a new trade and investment framework presented to the US.

“There will continue to be engagement between SA and the United States officials, particularly the trade and industry level, to deal with the package of issues that we had tabled that have to do with, trade and investment and, if you like, Minister Dow will be able to outline some of those that are now being given serious consideration by the US So I was rather pleased that there was a firm agreement and undertaking that we are going to continue engaging. So there’s no disengagement.”

He concedes that the relationship had been contaminated by a number of issues, including the International Court of Justice case against Israel, SA’s positioning in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the Afrikaner matter.

“Our objective in coming here was to reset relations between the two countries and to reposition our relations, which had become contaminated by some of the issues.

Trump’s concern is about the safety of people in SA, though he narrowed it down to white farmers.

“We kept saying there is a security problem and we are not running away from that, this criminality. And we even sought to deal with it from its genesis, that in the end, when the economy is not growing, when there’s poverty, when there’s unemployment, one of the social ills that we get as a derivative is, criminality that spreads itself around the country, not only on farms.

Returning to the earlier Oval exchange, we pressed the Trump on the way forward.

--SABC--