President Trump just did something liberals and South African elites never expected: he told the unvarnished truth, and people actually listened. Imagine that. While the White House press corps clutched their pearls over Trump’s bold — dare I say presidential — critique of South Africa’s escalating crime crisis, something curious happened across the Atlantic: South Africans nodded along in agreement.
Now that’s got to sting a little for the “woke” crowd.
President Trump didn’t mince words. He didn’t play nice. He didn’t hide behind bureaucratic mumbo jumbo or dance around the issue with diplomatic niceties. He brought receipts — video clips, news articles, and a reality check wrapped in red, white, and blue — straight to Cyril Ramaphosa’s face. And guess what? According to analysts on the ground, South Africans — Black, White, rich, poor, urban, and rural — actually welcomed the moment.
Because when you’re dealing with over 6,900 murders in three months — let me repeat that: nearly 7,000 people killed in 90 days — political correctness isn’t just tone-deaf, it’s suicidal. That’s 76 lives snuffed out every single day in a country that’s supposedly a “success story” of post-apartheid democracy. Yet here we are, and President Trump is one of the only global leaders bold enough to call the mess what it is: a catastrophic failure of governance.
The South African President brought White golfers with him to try to prove there’s no systemic persecution of Whites in South Africa.
Golfer Retief Goosen then tells Trump that his dads farmer friends have been killed and farms are constantly being burned.pic.twitter.com/IS8JYBbFVG
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) May 21, 2025
And let’s not ignore that murder conviction stat — 12%. Twelve. That’s not a justice system, that’s a coin toss with a bent penny. It’s no wonder that even South African labor leaders like Zingiswa Losi are practically begging for help, right there in the Oval Office. Her words — unfiltered and raw — didn’t fit the left’s narrative, but they sure fit reality: “We are a violent nation.” That’s not coming from a Fox News pundit or a MAGA rally speaker — that’s a South African union boss speaking to the truth because her people are living it every day.
This isn’t about race. It’s about basic law and order. It’s about a government so busy playing footsie with China, Russia, and Iran through its BRICS bromance that it forgot to actually, you know, govern. As analyst Max Meizlish pointed out, South Africa can’t even guarantee electricity or clean water — but hey, let’s host more summits with Putin. Maybe he’ll send over some troops for security.
What President Trump did was more than just theater — it was accountability. For too long, South Africa’s leaders have used historical guilt and racial scapegoating to dodge tough questions. Trump didn’t fall for it. He pointed out the rot, challenged the false narratives, and said what needed to be said: Fix your country or forget investment.
Even Ramaphosa’s about-face on Elon Musk’s Starlink speaks volumes. After initially blocking Musk over “equity requirements” (translation: local cronies needed a cut), they’re now suddenly realizing maybe having rural satellite coverage could, just maybe, help them stop some of the bloodshed. It’s not a coincidence. It’s Trump pressure in action.
“This is a very serious situation. If we had a real press, it would be exposed. When it gets exposed, it’ll get fixed. But people don’t talk about it. And I’ll tell you who is talking about it, thousands of people that are fleeing South Africa right now.” –President Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Cu3Or9Mar0
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 21, 2025
And when a Black farmer attends the funeral of a murdered White farmer and says, “Next time it’s going to be me,” you know the façade is crumbling. The racial lens is giving way to a reality too grim to ignore — crime is colorblind, and everyone’s a target.
So, liberals can fume all they want about Trump being “undiplomatic.” The people on the ground see something else — leadership. Real, unapologetic, clear-eyed leadership. If only South Africa had more of it.
