Political exchange crossing continents, South Africa’s Julius Malema has left former U.S. President Donald Trump rattled, following Trump’s controversial remarks questioning South Africa’s role as host of the upcoming G20 Summit. Trump’s comments posted on his social platform, Truth Social cited alleged violence against white farmers and land seizures as reasons to possibly skip the global event. But Malema and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) weren’t having it.
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Calling out what they described as a “deliberate distortion of facts,” the EFF accused Trump of spreading misinformation to dodge international accountability. “This is nothing more than a smokescreen to distract from his own disastrous economic record,” the party declared, slamming Trump’s trade war policies as harmful not just abroad, but to working-class Americans at home. They didn’t hold back labeling his approach “economic genocide.”
Trump’s criticism was fueled by a resurfaced clip of EFF leader Malema speaking on land reform, a cornerstone of the party’s platform to reverse historical injustices rooted in apartheid. While Malema has stood firm on redistributing land to the Black majority, South African authorities reaffirmed that such reforms remain firmly guided by legal frameworks, notably the Expropriation Act.
The South African Presidency brushed off Trump’s remarks with a sharp edge, revealing he hadn’t even confirmed his attendance. “We weren’t expecting him anyway,” said a spokesperson for President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Even the opposition weighed in. Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen debunked Trump’s narrative, making it clear that South Africa’s crime challenges are broad and not racially targeted.
The EFF went further, accusing Trump of “imperialist tactics” aimed at painting South Africa as a human rights offender to justify U.S. sanctions or diplomatic isolation. Drawing parallels to past American interventions in Iraq and Libya, the party concluded that Trump’s absence might actually be beneficial—clearing the way for meaningful global discussions on inclusive and fair economic policies, free from what they called “American fear-mongering.”
