President Cyril Ramaphosa and US President Donald Trump engaging on Afrikaner genocide misinformation during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington DC on May 21.
Image: AFP
As President Donald Trump continues to assert that a "white genocide" is occurring in South Africa, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) and the Presidency have disagreed over the acceptance of Roelf Meyer as a new designated ambassador to the United States.
While President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed confidence that the US will accept Meyer's credentials, noting that South Africa accepted the credentials of Trump’s envoy, Leo Brent Bozell III, the process remains a point of tension.
This is after Trump reiterated that a “genocide” is occurring in South Africa, claiming white people are being targeted and killed for their race.
Trump made these claims during a Turning Point USA rally in Phoenix on Friday.
He described the situation as a “horrible thing”.
Trump, who used social media, added that his administration suspended most global refugee resettlement except for persecuted white South Africans.
The South African government has repeatedly dismissed these claims, saying there is no evidence of genocide or racially targeted killings of white farmers and that crime in the country affects people across all communities.
This comes days after Ramaphosa announced Meyer as the designated ambassador to the US.
Meyer is a veteran negotiator famous for working alongside Ramaphosa in the 1990s. His appointment is seen as a strategic move to stabilise and improve diplomatic ties with Washington following a turbulent year.
Despite this, Trump continues to repeat widely discredited claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa.
Asked if the US would accept Meyer’s credentials despite the current diplomatic tensions, Dirco spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said this was the expectation.
“It goes without saying. We expect that the emissary President will be accepted in the host country,” he said.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said the Presidency did not have a comment except to describe the suggestion as “being speculative”.
Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 to stop all US aid and subsidies to South Africa, citing the country's land expropriation policies and its case against Israel regarding genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The administration also established a specific resettlement programme for Afrikaners, designating them as “persecuted” minorities.
Trump boycotted the G20 summit hosted by South Africa and has officially barred South Africa from attending the 2026 G20 summit in Miami.
Governance expert and political analyst Sandile Swana said the presence of Meyer as the Ambassador will not change Trump’s sentiment, adding that he will continue with his claims of “genocide” against South Africa.
“He has clear demands. There are demands he wants attended to quietly and others openly,” he said.
Experts say the appointment of Roelf Meyer as a designated Ambassador to the US will not change Donald Trump's stance about “genocide” against white farmers in South Africa. .
Image: FaceBook
International relations expert Professor Theo Neethling said that although Meyer is likely to be accepted by the US, the relations between the two countries are currently at a low point, and 'his task will be to try to clear up misunderstandings and elevate diplomatic relations to a more constructive level'.
“Trump’s position on accommodating Afrikaner refugees appears to remain unchanged. For some time, he has argued that Afrikaners are being targeted on the basis of their race, hence the priority consideration for Afrikaner applicants under refugee or humanitarian pathways, particularly those claiming persecution in South Africa. This is almost certainly an issue that will land on the desk of Mr Meyer as the designated ambassador in Washington, DC,” he said.
Professor Andre Thomashausen, Professor Emeritus of international, comparative and constitutional law at the University of South Africa, said Trump has in mind that over 3,000 Afrikaans farmers have lost their lives to racially inspired and, in many cases, gruesome and cruel murders when labelling it a “genocide”.
He said that Trump is challenging the government to engage on these crime statistics inclusively and proactively and to allow for a debate on a reform and de-racialisation of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) laws.
manyane.manyane@inl.co.za