Cape Town, South Africa — US President Donald Trump says that the US government I will boycott the G20 summit This month in South Africa over his claims that the white minority in that country is being violently persecuted.
Trump announced Friday on Truth Social that no U.S. government officials will attend the Nov. 22-23 summit in Johannesburg “as long as human rights violations continue.” This was his latest criticism Black-led South African governmentwhich has been a regular target of Trump since his return to office.
In February, Trump issued an executive order halting US financial aid to South Africa, citing its treatment. Afrikaans white minority. The administration also gave priority to Afrikaners To obtain refugee status in the United States They say they will be given most of the 7,500 places available this financial year.
The South African government – and some Africans themselves – say Trump’s claims of persecution are baseless.
Afrikaners are South Africans descended mainly from the Dutch but also from French and German colonial settlers who first came to the country in the 17th century.
Africans were at the heart Apartheid system of white minority rule From 1948 to 1994, which led to decades of hostility between them and the black majority in South Africa. But Afrikaners are not a homogeneous group, and some of them fought apartheid. There are an estimated 2.7 million Afrikaners out of South Africa’s population of 62 million.
Africans themselves are divided over Trump’s claims. some They say they face discriminationBut a group of leading African business and academics said in an open letter last month that “the narrative that portrays Africans as victims of racial oppression in post-apartheid South Africa” is misleading.
The Dutch-derived Afrikaans language is widely spoken in South Africa and is an official language, while Afrikaans are represented in every aspect of society. Afrikaners are some of the richest businessmen in South Africa, some of whom are from The most successful sports starsThey also work in government and are largely committed to South Africa’s multiracial democracy.
Trump said on Truth Social that Africans are “being killed and slaughtered, and their lands and farms are being illegally confiscated.” The president’s comments refer to a relatively small number of Attacks on African farmers Which he and others claim is racially motivated.
Trump also pointed to a highly controversial law introduced by the South African government that would allow land to be expropriated from private owners without compensation. Some Africans fear that the law aims to remove them from their lands for the benefit of South Africa’s poor black majority. Many South African citizens, including opposition parties, They criticized the lawBut this did not lead to the confiscation of lands.
The South African government said in response to Trump’s Social Truth post that his claims were “not supported by facts.” She said Trump’s months-long criticism of South Africa over Afrikaners is the result of misinformation because it misses the context that suggests black farmers and farm workers are also They were killed in rural attacksWhich constitutes a small percentage of the high rates of violent crimes.
There were more than 26,000 murders in South Africa in 2024. Of these, 37 were on farms, according to an Afrikaans lobby group tracking them. Experts on rural attacks in South Africa said the main motivation for violent farm raids was theft, not race.
Trump said it was a “total disgrace” that the G20 summit – a meeting of the leaders of the 19 largest rich and developing economies, the European Union and the African Union – was being held in South Africa. He had already said he would not attend, and Vice President J.D. Vance was scheduled to go in his place. The United States will assume the rotating presidency of the G20 after South Africa. Trump also said in a speech last week that South Africa should be expelled from the G20.
Trump’s criticism of Africa’s more developed economy has gone beyond the issue of Africans. His executive order in February said South Africa had taken “aggressive positions toward the United States and its allies,” specifically with its decision Accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians In Gaza before the United Nations Supreme Court.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Boycotted the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting In South Africa in February after the host nation’s G20 slogan of “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability” was mocked as an “Economic Innovation and Climate Change Initiative”.
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IP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa