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South Africa president says persecution of whites a 'false narrative' as Musk repeats genocide claim

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South Africa president says persecution of whites a 'false narrative' as Musk repeats genocide claim
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News

South Africa president says persecution of whites a 'false narrative' as Musk repeats genocide claim

2025-03-25 16:54 Last Updated At:17:00

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday the claim that white people are being persecuted in his country is a “completely false narrative.” It was his latest attempt to push back against allegations made by U.S. President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and some white minority groups in South Africa.

South African-born Musk, who has regularly accused South Africa's Black-led government of being anti-white, repeated a claim this weekend in a social media post that some of the country's political figures are “actively promoting white genocide."

Ramaphosa said in his weekly message to the nation that South Africans “should not allow events beyond our shores to divide us or turn us against each other.”

“In particular, we should challenge the completely false narrative that our country is a place in which people of a certain race or culture are being targeted for persecution.”

Ramaphosa did not mention names, but his denial was a reference to the allegations by Trump and others that South Africa is deliberately mistreating a white minority group known as Afrikaners by encouraging violent attacks on their farms and introducing a law designed to seize their land.

The allegations were central to an executive order issued by Trump last month cutting funding to South Africa to punish the government, while offering Afrikaners refugee status in the U.S.

Afrikaners are descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers who first came to South Africa more than 300 years ago. They were at the heart of the apartheid government that systematically oppressed non-whites, although South Africa has been largely successful at reconciling its many racial groups after apartheid ended in 1994.

In his post on X, influential Trump adviser Musk cited a political rally last Friday in South Africa where Black leaders of a far-left opposition party sang a song that has the lyrics “Kill the Boer, the farmer.” Boer is a word that refers to an Afrikaner.

“Very few people know that there is a major political party in South Africa that is actively promoting white genocide,” Musk wrote. He linked to a video of the rally.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X late Monday that the song “is a chant that incites violence. South Africa’s leaders and politicians must take action to protect Afrikaner and other disfavored minorities. The United States is proud to offer those individuals who qualify for admission to our nation amid this continued horrible threat of violence.”

The party in question, the Economic Freedom Fighters, is the fourth biggest in Parliament and a political opponent of Ramaphosa's African National Congress. It won 9.5% of the vote in last year's national election. It has come under scrutiny for stirring racial tensions before and for singing the song, which was used during apartheid as a call to fight against government oppression.

The song's modern-day use has been criticized by some in South Africa, including by other political parties, and a group representing Afrikaners challenged its use in court. It was ruled hate speech and effectively banned by a court more than a decade ago.

But it was the subject of several other legal cases before a 2022 ruling found that it was not hate speech and protected under freedom of speech because there was no proof it incited violence. The EFF says it is a historic chant that shouldn’t be taken literally and has sometimes changed the lyrics to "kiss the Boer."

Since Trump's executive order, the South African government has sought to dispel what it says is misinformation over white farmers, who are sometimes victims of violent attacks in their homes. The government has condemned the attacks, but experts say there is no evidence of any widespread targeting of whites and they are in fact part of South Africa's extremely high violent crime rates, which affect all races.

The group representing Afrikaners says the police have sometimes undercounted farm homicides in official statistics. It recently said it had figures showing there were eight farm homicides in the three-month period between October and December last year when police only recorded one.

There were a total of 6,953 homicides across South Africa during that same time period, according to the police statistics.

Associated Press writer Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

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

FILE - White South Africans demonstrate in support of U.S. President Donald Trump in front of the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

FILE - White South Africans demonstrate in support of U.S. President Donald Trump in front of the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, right, welcomes Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, ahead of the eighth EU-South Africa summit in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, right, welcomes Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, ahead of the eighth EU-South Africa summit in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)

Elon Musk attends the finals at the NCAA wrestling championship, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Elon Musk attends the finals at the NCAA wrestling championship, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Saturday that it has launched a major operation in the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages, following days of strikes across the Palestinian territory that killed hundreds of people.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Operation Gideon Chariots was being led with “great force.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to escalate pressure with the aim of destroying the militant group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades.

The military operation came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump concluded his Middle East trip without a visit to Israel. There had been hope that Trump’s trip could increase the chances of a ceasefire deal or the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which Israel has prevented for more than two months.

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas have yet to achieve progress in Qatar’s capital, Doha. Hamas, which released an Israeli-American hostage as a goodwill gesture before Trump’s trip, insists on a deal that ends the war and leads to the withdrawal of Israeli forces — something Israel said that it won't agree to.

Israel’s army said on social media that it was intensifying attacks and exerting “tremendous pressure” on Hamas across Gaza, and wouldn't stop until the hostages are returned and the militant group is dismantled.

Israel believes as many as 23 of the hostages in Gaza are still alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of them.

More than 150 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It said more than 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a January ceasefire on March 18.

On Saturday afternoon, an Israeli strike killed at least four children in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the bodies. Seven others were wounded in the strike, which hit a house. A later strike in Jabaliya killed four, the hospital said.

Airstrikes around Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed 14 people, with the bodies arriving at al-Aqsa hospital. One strike on a house killed eight people, including parents and four children.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on the strikes. A separate statement said that the military had killed dozens of fighters while dismantling an “underground route” in northern Gaza.

Gaza is in the third month of an Israeli blockade with no food, water, fuel or other goods entering the territory of more than 2 million people. Food security experts say Gaza will be in famine if the blockade isn't lifted.

Earlier this week, a new humanitarian organization that has U.S. backing to take over aid delivery said that it expects to begin operations by the end of the month, after what it described as key agreements with Israeli officials. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation identified several U.S. military veterans, former humanitarian coordinators and security contractors to lead the effort.

Many in the humanitarian community, including the U.N., said that they won’t participate, because the system doesn't align with humanitarian principles and won’t be able to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.

Tom Fletcher, the U.N. humanitarian chief, said Friday that there's already an aid delivery plan with 160,000 pallets of supplies ready to move: “It is ready to be activated — today — if we are simply allowed to do our jobs.”

The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Samy Magdy reported from Cairo.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli airstrike that struck tents at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli airstrike that struck tents at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A man holds a piece of an explosive device as Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli strike that hit tents near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A man holds a piece of an explosive device as Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli strike that hit tents near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Smoke rises following an Israeli army airstrike in northern Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Smoke rises following an Israeli army airstrike in northern Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

An Israeli tank moves in a staging area in southern Israel, near the border with Gaza, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

An Israeli tank moves in a staging area in southern Israel, near the border with Gaza, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli airstrike that struck tents at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli airstrike that struck tents at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

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