CNN fact-checks Trump’s false claims on South African farmers’ killing

Cable News Network, CNN has fact-checked and debunked U.S. President, Donald Trump recent claims about the alleged mass killings of white farmers in South Africa.

The president, during a contentious meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, presented what he said was visual evidence of these killings, an image that has now been confirmed to be misleading.

The photo Trump showcased was actually a screenshot from a Reuters video filmed in Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The footage, originally captured by Reuters video journalist Djaffar Al Katanty, documented a mass burial following an attack by M23 rebels.

Nevertheless, Trump held it up during the meeting as supposed proof of white farmers being targeted and killed in South Africa.

“These are all white farmers that are being buried,” Trump claimed, displaying the image during his presentation to President Ramaphosa.

However, Reuters quickly clarified that the video had no connection to South Africa and was, in fact, tied to conflict in Congo.

The image in question was pulled from a blog post published by American Thinker, a conservative online magazine. While the blog did not explicitly mislabel the image, it failed to clarify its origin.

The magazine’s managing editor, Andrea Widburg, acknowledged that Trump had misidentified the picture, but defended the article’s broader argument about rising pressure on white South Africans.

For President Ramaphosa, the claim came as a surprise. During the meeting, he questioned the legitimacy of the so-called evidence, stating, “I’d like to know where that is. Because this I’ve never seen.”

CNN Inside Politics team took the matter further by closely examining Trump’s assertions. They used official crime statistics to challenge the narrative of a supposed genocide against white farmers.

According to data cited by CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale, South Africa recorded 19,696 murders within the first nine months of 2024. Out of these, only 36 occurred on farms, and just seven of the victims were farmers, none of whom were confirmed to be white.

Moreover, Dale pointed out that crimes against farmers are typically linked to robberies rather than racially motivated attacks.

“So, that is bad, but that is not genocide,” he said. Interestingly, even Trump’s own administration had previously expressed skepticism about the genocide narrative. In a 2020 report, the administration noted that South Africa’s high crime rate—not race—was the main driver of violence in rural areas.

Adding more perspective, several white South African farmers and experts have consistently explained that while they do face security challenges, they are more often targeted due to their isolation and vulnerability rather than their race.

Journalist Djaffar Al Katanty, who filmed the original footage in Goma, expressed shock at seeing his work used out of context.

“In view of all the world, President Trump used my image… to try to convince President Ramaphosa that in his country, white people are being killed by Black people,” he said.