Wednesday, 12 November, 2025
London, UK
Wednesday, November 12, 2025 8:19 PM
overcast clouds 12.8°C
Condition: Overcast clouds
Humidity: 87%
Wind Speed: 7.4 km/h

South Africa rebukes Trump’s claims of Afrikaner persecution

Enoch Godongwana, South Africa’s finance minister, slammed claims of a genocide against white Afrikaners in the country Tuesday, after President Donald Trump last week announced no U.S. officials would attend the upcoming Johannesburg G20 summit as long as “human rights abuses continue.”

“We convene at a time when South Africa, like many nations around the world, is grappling with intensifying global competition and mounting economic and political divisions,” Godongwana said in a budget statement. To South African leaders, “it is against this fractured landscape that South Africa has been falsely accused of genocide against its white community and threatened with punitive sanctions based on these falsehoods.”

The White House has long fixated on what it says is South Africa’s mistreatment of white farmers. The administration granted refugee status to Afrikaners in May, even as it clamped down on refugee admissions from other countries. Also in May, Trump surprised South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a White House visit by showing him videos and images he said were evidence of persecution.

https://1e80677cb7c54338e128185335b3798c.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-45/html/container.html

Trump’s social media post last week was yet another escalation in his pressure campaign against South Africa.

“It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” he wrote on Truth Social. ”Afrikaners (People who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.”

The South African Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation last week called Trump’s post “regrettable” and said his claims were “not substantiated by fact.”

“Let me thank the many communities here at home and around the world that have rejected the false narratives and the fear, hate and disinformation they represent, and instead chosen to defend the principles of solidarity and equality,” Godongwana said Tuesday.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

LP Staff Writers

Writers at Lord’s Press come from a range of professional backgrounds, including history, diplomacy, heraldry, and public administration. Many publish anonymously or under initials—a practice that reflects the publication’s long-standing emphasis on discretion and editorial objectivity. While they bring expertise in European nobility, protocol, and archival research, their role is not to opine, but to document. Their focus remains on accuracy, historical integrity, and the preservation of events and individuals whose significance might otherwise go unrecorded.

Categories

Follow

    Newsletter

    Subscribe to receive your complimentary login credentials and unlock full access to all features and stories from Lord’s Press.

    As a journal of record, Lord’s Press remains freely accessible—thanks to the enduring support of our distinguished partners and patrons. Subscribing ensures uninterrupted access to our archives, special reports, and exclusive notices.

    LP is free thanks to our Sponsors

    Privacy Overview

    Privacy & Cookie Notice

    This website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience and to help us understand how our content is accessed and used. Cookies are small text files stored in your browser that allow us to recognise your device upon return, retain your preferences, and gather anonymised usage statistics to improve site performance.

    Under EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we process this data based on your consent. You will be prompted to accept or customise your cookie preferences when you first visit our site.

    You may adjust or withdraw your consent at any time via the cookie settings link in the website footer. For more information on how we handle your data, please refer to our full Privacy Policy