Trump boycotts South Africa’s G20, but some Afrikaners hit back at his claims : NPR

A man walks past a billboard with portraits of G20 leaders at the entrance to the G20 Leaders’ Summit on November 22. The meeting of the Group of Twenty Heads of State will be held in Johannesburg, but the United States will not participate.

Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images Europe

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Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images Europe

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — President Trump announced that no U.S. officials will attend the G20 summit hosted by South Africa — the current rotating chair of the group of the world’s leading economies — in Johannesburg later this month, citing “human rights” concerns. Vice President Vance was scheduled to attend in Trump’s place.

“It’s a total disgrace that the G20 is being held in South Africa. Afrikaners (descendants of Dutch settlers, as well as French and German immigrants) are being killed and massacred, and their lands and farms are being illegally confiscated,” Trump said on Truth Social over the weekend. He had previously said that South Africa should be completely excluded from the “GS”.

Trump has relentlessly criticized South Africa since returning to power.

He ambushed President Cyril Ramaphosa during a visit to the White House in May, falsely accusing his government of seizing white-owned land; reduce aid to South Africa; his administration expelled the South African ambassador to Washington; imposed customs tariffs of 30% on the country; repeated and refuted far-right claims of white genocide – and as a result prioritized Afrikaners for fast-track refugee status in the United States (while halting the admission of refugees from most other countries).

The South African government has repeatedly attempted to correct the White House, providing statistics that refute these claims – such as the fact that blacks are by far the hardest hit by violent crime and that whites still own the majority of commercial agricultural land – to no avail.

Today, some white Afrikaners themselves, as well as Afrikaans groups, are denouncing on their behalf what they see as the “lies” and “lies” of the US administration.

“We reject the narrative that portrays Afrikaners as victims of racial persecution in post-apartheid South Africa,” a group of more than 40 prominent Afrikaners said in an open letter last month. “We are not pawns in America’s culture wars.”

The group included writers, journalists, musicians, university professors and Christian clergy.

“Afrikaners have done wrong in the past, and we acknowledge that,” the letter said, referring to the fact that their ancestors – as well as British settlers – colonized the country. Afrikaners then implemented the apartheid system that separated the races, prevented the black majority from voting and brutally suppressed dissent.

“As citizens of post-apartheid South Africa, we have dedicated ourselves to building our country. Designating ourselves as victims of multiracialism alienates us from our fellow South Africans and damages the relationships that have been nurtured over the past 30 years.”

“Please stop lying”

Max du Preez, an Afrikaner journalist and author who was among the letter’s signatories, told NPR that they reject the narrative coming from the White House, calling it “an abuse of our ethnic identity to promote the interests of the MAGA movement.”

“There is no genocide in South Africa, there is absolutely no persecution of anyone on the basis of race. Our constitution unfailingly protects the human rights of every citizen,” he said.

“Not a single square inch of white-owned land has been confiscated since we became a democracy in 1994,” du Preez added. “Please stop lying about us and using us as pawns.”

Trump has repeatedly said he particularly wants to help white Afrikaans farmers. But some agricultural organizations representing them stressed that their businesses would also be affected if the United States sanctions South Africa.

Christo van der Rheede represented white farmers for years as head of South Africa’s largest agricultural organization. He now runs the FW De Klerk Foundation, named after the Afrikaans former president who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela for their role in ending apartheid.

“It is now very important that all South Africans come together and refute President Donald Trump’s statements… that Afrikaners are being killed and massacred and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated. This is simply not true,” van der Rheede said after Trump’s G20 announcement.

He said the United States should reconsider its boycott of the G20.

“The role of the G20 as a key driver of uniting and building a better and just world is essential and it would be very negative for the United States and its business interests in South Africa if it continues to base its reasons for staying away on lies,” he added.

Despite reluctance among some segments of Afrikaans society, others are strong supporters of Trump and have welcomed his stance on South Africa.

For years, some Afrikaner groups have traveled to the United States to promote the “white genocide” narrative and pressure lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

For its part, the South African government issued a measured statement taking note of Trump’s announcement.

“We really think this will be one of the most important G20s yet, although without the United States, I think it’s something that will affect the United States as a country, not the entire G20,” he added. Chrispin Phiri, a spokesperson for the Ministry of International Relations, later told NPR.

The summit will bring together European heads of state and Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected. Its theme – which the US State Department has opposed – is “solidarity, equality and sustainability”.

“South Africa is doing very bad things,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X in February. “Using the G20 to promote “solidarity, equality and sustainability”. In other words: DEI and climate change. »