Mbalula slams Trump as ‘crazy’ over claims of white killings in South Africa

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has lashed out at US President Donald Trump as “crazy” for his continued claim that white people are being killed in South Africa.

“Gona le setswenwa se sengwe bare ke Donald Trump (There’s a crazy/mad person called Donald Trump) who says we kill white people in this country, which is a lie,” Mbalula said.

He was speaking on Thursday, at the ANC’s regional cake cutting at Bokfontein Community Hall in the North West, as the party marked 114 years since its formation.

Mbalula said South Africa’s economy remained largely in white hands and defended Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) as a necessary tool to redress historical inequality.

“What I am saying is that the economy of this country is in the hands of white people, and then we introduce Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) so that people like us can benefit in the business space,” he said.

He dismissed Trump’s criticism of transformation policies.

“Donald Trump says we must not do that, and that we are killing white people in South Africa. Have you ever seen a white person not working? Have you ever seen a white person staying in a shack?”

Mbalula told supporters that transformation was about improving the lives of Black people and warned against forces he said wanted to “oppress” South Africans.

“This is our country. We don’t have two passports, we have one, and we must be in solidarity with others who are oppressed in the world,” he said, to cheers from the crowd.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that white people, particularly Afrikaner farmers, are being killed in South Africa and that their land is being illegally confiscated.

However, the South African government has strongly rubbished the claims.

Tensions between Pretoria and Washington escalated after Trump accused South Africa of “human rights abuses” ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit held in Johannesburg in November 2025. 

No senior US officials attended the summit.

Trump has since said South Africa will not be invited to the 2026 G20 summit in Miami, Florida.

In May this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa met Trump’s administration at the White House in an effort to repair growing diplomatic and economic tensions. 

During the meeting, Trump called for the arrest of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema over his continued use of the “Kill the Boer” chant, further straining relations.

Democratic Alliance leader and Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen, who was part of the South African delegation, told Trump and senior US officials that his party joined the Government of National Unity to prevent the EFF and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK Party) from entering government.

Relations between the two countries have remained strained during Trump’s second term, particularly over South Africa’s land reform policy, which Trump has described as a “seizure of land” from white farmers - a characterisation rejected by Pretoria.

Meanwhile, the ANC has since appealed to other G20 member states to engage the US and push back against any attempt to exclude South Africa from the forum.

ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) member and deputy minister of International Relations Thandi Moraka previously told IOL News in December that they will continue engaging with the US to mend relations between the two countries.

“We need to continue reaching out to the United States and indicate that we are willing to strengthen our diplomatic relationship,” Moraka said on the sidelines of the ANC’s National General Council meeting in Ekurhuleni.

She insisted Trump did not have the authority to exclude South Africa from the G20.

“In terms of G20 membership, we are a group of 20 - not a group of 19 or a group of 80,” Moraka said. “You cannot invite and uninvite member states based on personal feelings.”

She added that G20 members should “speak sense” to the US administration and uphold the bloc’s regulatory framework.

IOL Politics