How Trump's support for a white minority group in South Africa led to a US boycott of the G20 summit

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- U.S. President Donald Trump says that the United States authorities will boycott the Group of 20 summit this period successful South Africa implicit his claims that a achromatic number radical successful that state is being violently persecuted.

Trump announced Friday connected Truth Social that nary U.S. authorities authoritative volition be the Nov. 22-23 acme successful Johannesburg “as agelong arsenic these Human Rights abuses continue.” It was his latest disapproval of the Black-led South African government, which has been a regular people for Trump since helium returned to office.

In February, Trump issued an enforcement bid stopping U.S. fiscal assistance to South Africa, citing its attraction of the Afrikaner achromatic minority. The medication has besides prioritized Afrikaners for exile presumption successful the U.S. and says they volition beryllium fixed astir of the 7,500 places disposable this fiscal year.

The South African authorities — and immoderate Afrikaners themselves — accidental Trump's claims of persecution are baseless.

Afrikaners are South Africans who are descended chiefly from Dutch but besides French and German assemblage settlers who archetypal came to the state successful the 17th century.

Afrikaners were astatine the bosom of the apartheid strategy of achromatic number rule from 1948-1994, starring to decades of hostility betwixt them and South Africa's Black majority. But Afrikaners are not a homogenous group, and immoderate fought against apartheid. There are an estimated 2.7 cardinal Afrikaners successful South Africa’s colonisation of 62 million.

Afrikaners themselves are divided implicit Trump's claims. Some say they look discrimination, but a radical of starring Afrikaner concern figures and academics said successful an unfastened missive past period that “the communicative that casts Afrikaners arsenic victims of radical persecution successful post-apartheid South Africa” is misleading.

Afrikaners' Dutch-derived connection is wide spoken successful South Africa and is an authoritative language, portion Afrikaners are represented successful each facet of society. Afrikaners are immoderate of South Africa's richest entrepreneurs, immoderate of its most palmy sports stars, and besides service successful authorities and are mostly committed to South Africa's multiracial democracy.

Trump said connected Truth Social that Afrikaners “are being killed and slaughtered, and their onshore and farms are being illegally confiscated.” The president's comments are successful notation to a comparatively tiny fig of attacks connected Afrikaner farmers that helium and others assertion are racially motivated.

Trump has besides pointed to a highly contentious instrumentality introduced by the South African authorities that allows onshore to beryllium appropriated from backstage owners without compensation. Some Afrikaners fearfulness that instrumentality is aimed astatine removing them from their onshore successful favour of South Africa's mediocre Black majority. Many South Africans, including absorption parties, have criticized the law, but it hasn't led to onshore confiscations.

The South African authorities said successful effect to Trump's Truth Social station that his claims were "not substantiated by fact." It has said that Trump's monthslong disapproval of South Africa implicit Afrikaners is simply a effect of misinformation due to the fact that it misses the discourse that Black farmers and farmworkers are besides killed successful agrarian attacks, which marque up a tiny percent of the precocious convulsive transgression rates.

There were much than 26,000 homicides successful South Africa successful 2024. Of those, 37 were workplace murders, according to an Afrikaner lobby radical that tracks them. Experts connected agrarian attacks successful South Africa person said the overriding motive for the convulsive workplace invasions is robbery and not race.

Trump said it is simply a "total disgrace" that the G20 acme — a gathering of the leaders of the 19 apical affluent and processing economies, the European Union and the African Union — is being held successful South Africa. He had already said helium wouldn't attend, and Vice President JD Vance was owed to spell successful his place. The U.S. volition instrumentality connected the rotating presidency of the G20 aft South Africa. Trump besides said successful a code past week that South Africa should beryllium thrown retired of the G20.

Trump's disapproval of Africa's astir developed system has gone beyond the contented of Afrikaners. His enforcement bid successful February said South Africa had taken “aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies,” specifically with its determination to accuse Israel of genocide against Palestinians successful Gaza astatine the United Nations' apical court.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio boycotted a G20 overseas ministers meeting successful South Africa successful February aft deriding the big country's G20 slogan of “solidarity, equality and sustainability” arsenic “DEI and clime change.”

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa