Before US President Donald Trump welcomed his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, into the Oval Office on Wednesday, White House aides had set up two large-screen televisions in the West Wing. The stage was set for what Western media called an "ambush", as Trump soon asked the staff to dim the lights and play him a video that he claimed proved genocide was being committed against white people in South Africa, driving farmers to flee to the United States.
The four-minute video played on a large screen showed South Africa's firebrand far-left opposition lawmaker Julius Malema singing "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer" -- an infamous chant dating back to the apartheid-era fight against white-minority rule. It finished with images of a protest in South Africa where white crosses were placed along a rural roadside to represent murdered farmers -- but which Trump falsely said showed their graves.
"You do allow them to take land, and then when they take the land, they kill the white farmer, and when they kill the white farmer, nothing happens to them," Trump said, accusing Ramaphosa.
The extraordinary stunt turned the usually staid diplomatic setting of the Oval Office into a stage for Trump's contention that white South African farmers are being forced off their land and killed.
South African president, however, stayed calm and disputed Trump's claims.
"No, no, no, no. Nobody can take land," Ramaphosa said as he insisted that most victims of South Africa's notoriously high crime rate are black and said the politicians in the video were from the opposition.
However, he didn't seem to convince Trump, who drowned him out whenever he tried to speak.
But this is not the first time Malema's "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer" shoutout has created an uproar in the United States. In February earlier this year, Trump's billionaire, South African-born ally, Elon Musk, used an old video of Julius Malema to drive his "white genocide" claims.
Who Is Julius Malema
Julius Malema is leader of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), South Africa's third largest party. Known for making radical statements, the Opposition leader advocates for land nationalisation and wealth redistribution. His policies have gained support among many South African residents, who feel economically excluded even after apartheid ended. The EFF secured 11 per cent of the vote in the last national elections.
Malema made the controversial "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer" chant during the EFF's 10th anniversary rally in July 2023, where he told supporters, "We are taking government in 2024. The revolution in South Africa is guaranteed."
What Does "Kill The Boer, Kill The Farmer" Mean
The chant is historically linked to Peter Mokaba, a former African National Congress (ANC) youth leader. It is rooted in the anti-apartheid struggle of the 1990s. Mokaba, who died in 2002, argued that it was a metaphor rather than a literal call to violence.
In 2022, South Africa's Equality Court ruled that the slogan did not constitute hate speech under the country's legal framework.
Musk's Criticism Of The Chant
In February, Musk, who was born in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, shared a video of Malema using the infamous chant on his X and wrote, "He is chanting 'kill the white farmers' to a cheering stadium."
In response, Malema defended the chant, arguing it was part of South Africa's political history and not an incitement to violence.
