President Cyril Ramaphosa has doubled down on his warning to people in South Africa spreading misinformation and straining relations.
Speaking at a conference of the African National Congress on 7 December, Ramaphosa said that ideas rooted in white racial superiority continue to threaten South Africa’s post-apartheid unity.
He highlighted that these ideas are now spilling into the international arena in ways that harm the nation’s sovereignty and foreign relations.
“Some South Africans still adhere to notions of racial superiority and seek to maintain racial privilege,” Ramaphosa said.
He added that these views align with broader narratives of white supremacy and white victimhood.
Ramaphosa noted that these ideas have been pushed through false allegations that white Afrikaners are being persecuted in South Africa, claims he described as unfounded but increasingly influential in certain international political circles.
His comments follow heightened tensions sparked after US President Donald Trump boycotted the G20 summit in Johannesburg two weeks earlier.
Trump claimed that South Africa mistreats its white minority and that white farmers were being “killed and slaughtered” while their land was being “illegally confiscated.”
Despite his absence, the summit proceeded, and a G20 declaration was adopted—an outcome that angered Trump’s administration.
This subsequently resulted in South Africa not being invited to the next G20 summit, which is to be held in the United States.
Ramaphosa noted that in February, Trump used these false narratives as justification for cutting development aid to South Africa.
He warned that misinformation of this nature is not harmless rhetoric; it carries real consequences for the country’s reputation, international relationships, and economic stability.
“These false claims have real implications for our sovereignty, international relations and national security,” he said.
He added that a campaign must be launched both within South Africa and internationally to counter the misinformation being spread about the country.
Straining relationships
The United States is South Africa’s third-largest export market, after the European Union and China.
However, the relationship has become strained, particularly as the Trump administration imposed a 30% import tariff on South African goods—a tariff the government has been trying, without success, to have reduced.
Ramaphosa said that South Africa continues to engage the US in the hope of reaching a mutually beneficial trade agreement.
However, the country has also accelerated efforts to diversify its export markets as a precaution.
His latest remarks build on the strong warning he delivered in a national address on 30 November, following the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
In that address, he criticised the United States’ decision not to attend the summit and described it as “regrettable.”
He emphasised that the reasons given—namely, allegations of genocide against Afrikaners and the confiscation of land from white citizens—were “baseless and false.”
Ramaphosa also dismissed Trump’s claim that South Africa would not be invited to the next G20 summit in the United States.
He reminded the nation that South Africa is a founding member of the G20 and will continue to participate fully as an active and constructive member, regardless of political rhetoric.
While reaffirming strong ties with the American people and the long-standing relationship between the two nations, Ramaphosa warned that a particular group within South Africa was playing a direct role in fuelling the tensions.
He said that individuals and organisations inside South Africa, as well as their counterparts abroad, were driving a “sustained campaign of disinformation” that has influenced the US administration’s stance.
He accused these groups of actively undermining South Africa’s national interests, jeopardising jobs, and weakening relations with one of the country’s most significant international partners.
Ramaphosa stressed that these actions go beyond political disagreements and have concrete economic and diplomatic repercussions.
In response, he reiterated that South Africa is a constitutional democracy guided by a Bill of Rights that guarantees equality for all and is protected by an independent judiciary.
He urged citizens to reject external interference and insisted that South Africa’s challenges must be confronted and resolved by South Africans themselves.
