South Africa’s Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has dismissed claims that a white genocide is occurring in the country, pointing to newly released crime statistics that directly contradict the narrative. His response follows remarks made by US President Donald Trump during a televised meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House, where Trump alleged that white farmers were being killed and persecuted.
According to Mchunu, between January and March 2025, six people were killed on farms—five of them Black and one white. The Black victims included two farm owners, two employees, and one manager. In the previous quarter, from October to December 2024, 12 farm-related murders were recorded, with only one of the victims being a white farm owner.
Mchunu said it was the first time South Africa’s crime statistics had been broken down by race, a move prompted by the renewed genocide claims. He noted that the history of farm attacks in the country has often been misrepresented, particularly by foreign groups and media. The history of farm murders in the country has always been distorted and reported in an unbalanced way, he said.
The notion of a white genocide in South Africa has long circulated among far-right groups in the US and other Western countries, despite being widely debunked. Earlier this year, a South African judge described the claims as clearly imagined during a court ruling involving a white supremacist-linked inheritance case.
Tensions between the US and South Africa have intensified under Trump’s administration. Aside from making the genocide claims public, the US president recently granted asylum to nearly 60 Afrikaners, citing racial discrimination. Trump also played debunked videos and images during his meeting with Ramaphosa to back up his claims, which the BBC found to be filled with inaccuracies.
Mchunu rejected not only the genocide claims but also Trump’s allegations that the South African government is unfairly seizing land from white farmers. Although South Africa passed a controversial law earlier this year that permits land expropriation without compensation under certain circumstances, the government insists that no land has been taken yet. The legislation is part of a broader push to address the enduring legacy of apartheid, which left the white minority in control of most of the country’s privately held land and wealth.
Despite political friction, Mchunu acknowledged that crime remains a serious problem in South Africa, but emphasized that it affects all communities equally. We have respect for the US as a country, we have respect for the people in that country and for President Trump,he said. “But we have no respect for the genocide story. It is totally unfounded and unsubstantiated.
