The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation(AKF) urge all South Africans to stand up and unite against Donald Trump's non-factual claim of the existence of white genocide in the country.

The Foundation voiced its concerns about Trump's ongoing attacks towards South Africa using Afrikaners as scapegoat to push his racist and white supremacist ideologies to destroy this country.

"The untruthful claims by US President Donald of a white, Afrikaner genocide in South Africa should be roundly condemned by all sectors of society.

“His recent post on Truth Social trumpeted debunked narratives of white Afrikaners being specifically targeted: ”killed and slaughtered" with their farms being “illegally confiscated”.

The claims pander to his ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) base in the USA but is also part of a global right-wing agenda which seeks to rally racists around the notion of ‘white victimhood’. It is an agenda that mobilises people based on racial and religious prejudice, anti-immigrant sentiment and a re-emerging fascist identity," said the Foundation.

The Foundation has described the US withdrawal to attend G20 meeting which scheduled to begin next week as one of his attempts to undermine this country as he did on different occasions.

"The USA's withdrawal from the G20 because of this so-called ‘genocide’ is yet another attempt to undermine South Africa. This follows earlier efforts to embarrass President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House, the expulsion of Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, the lack of clarity on Mcebisi Jonas' special envoy status, and asylum being granted to white Afrikaners in the USA.

With a 30 percent tariff imposed on South Africa, the USA appears to be hellbent on forcing the country to capitulate to foreign policy in line with its own objectives," the Foundation added.

The Foundation emphasised that South Africans should not lose sight though, of the source of the disinformation and also South Africans must ask themselves what was the motives of these organisations to tarnish the image of this country like they did.

"We should not lose sight though, of the source of the disinformation. The likes of Elon Musk, AfriForum and Solidarity have preyed on people's fears and prejudices. They have leveraged debates on land redistribution, black economic empowerment and crime to lobby a global superpower in favour of an ethno-nationalist agenda in South Africa.

We must begin to question the motives of organisations, who claim to have the interests of Afrikaner farmers at heart, but whose actions have resulted in tariffs that directly impact the farming sector here. Are these organisations actually about protecting the interests of South Africa or even particular segments of South African society, or are they really about destabilising our economy and government? Just like the Guptas who had paid Bell Pottinger to exploit issues of race in South Africa,have they not propagated racialised narratives to undermine the country," the Foundation continued.

The Foundation hinted that is supporting government's efforts to engage with US government and also praised FW de Klerk Foundation and group of Afrikaners which publicly dismissed a white genocide claims by Trump.

“We support the consistent attempts by the South African government to engage the US administration with reason and sober-mindedness, and we commend the FW de Klerk Foundation, as well as a group of over 40 prominent Afrikaners who have publicly rejected the claims of a white genocide. This, however, requires tens of thousands to do likewise,” the Foundation added.

The Foundation highlighted that in a recent meeting held between the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and the new US Embassy Human Rights Officer,Mr Norman Pflanz, we made it clear that their 2024 report assessing the state of human rights in South Africa was incorrect and contributed to the false narratives about the country. They had indicated that this would be corrected in future. It is incumbent on the Embassy to urgently meet its commitments to accurate reporting and to ensure that their key principals are informed about the factual situation of issues in South Africa.

The Foundation is urging all people of South Africa to stand up and find solutions for the issues facing this country, and must do something to dismiss Trump's false narratives.

"We encourage all South Africans to continue having the necessary debates on race and transformation, land redistribution and crime, but based on factual information and in a manner that tries to find common ground solutions.

"South Africans should also use the platforms available to them to counter Trump's false narratives, and to call to account the organisations and individuals who believe that it is acceptable to use race to divide, destabilise and  undermine post-apartheid South Africa.

This is an opportunity to build genuine national unity around the core values of our Constitution; we should not squander this by giving more airtime to those who thrive off division and hatred," the Foundation concluded.