Former golfing world champion Ernie Els provided a level-headed assessment of the racial challenges facing his native South Africa during an Oval Office meeting Wednesday between President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
While Ramaphosa said his reason for coming was to reset the relations with the U.S., including discussing trade, Trump clearly had another agenda item in mind and called on Els to help communicate it.
In February, Trump issued an executive order establishing a special refugee status for white South Africans, known as Afrikaners, who are victims of unjust racial discrimination, including threats of violence and land confiscation.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the president showed a video compilation of South African political figures, like Julius Malema, calling for the killing of Afrikaners to the cheers of a large stadium crowd. Trump held up a series of news stories about recent killings of white farmers in the nation.
“Death, death, death, horrible death,” the president said as he leafed through them.
Additionally, in January, South Africa enacted a law that allows the government to confiscate land and redistribute it without compensation, in some cases, or for “just and equitable” payment in others.
Trump mentioned that he had friends from South Africa who had told him of the terrible persecution white farmers are facing there.
Regarding the killing of farmers, data compiled by the Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa — a commercial farmers’ union made up mostly of Afrikaners — shows that there were 32 farm murders in 2024, down from 50 in 2023 and 43 in 2022. There have been a total of almost 2,300 farm murders since 1990.
Factcheck.org noted that most, if not all, the farmers murdered were white.
Trump turned to Els — a four-time PGA majors winner — and pro golfer Retief Goosen, also a South African native, to say a few words on the subject of the persecution of whites in their native country.
“This is tougher than sinking a three-footer,” Trump said to the men, briefly lightening the atmosphere in the room.
Els confirmed that he was one of the people who had spoken to the president about the situation in South Africa.
South African golfer Ernie Els (@TheBig_Easy) in the Oval Office: “We want to see things get better in our home country. That’s the bottom line.” pic.twitter.com/pq2ysYMhrB
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 21, 2025
“We want to see things get better in our home country. That’s the bottom line. It’s been 35 years since the transition. President Ramaphosa was right in the middle of that transition by 1990,” he said, directing his words to the South African leader.
“So it’s been 35 years of [African National Congress] government. And I know there was a lot of anger through the transition, there was always a lot of stuff happening in the apartheid days,” Els added. “We grew in the apartheid era, but I don’t think two wrongs make a right.”
“President [Nelson] Mandela, when he came out of prison for all that time, didn’t come out with hatred,” he continued, but instead he “unified our nation through sport,” including through the 1995 world champion rugby team, soccer, and even golf.
On the eve of #RWCFinal Laureus legends @BryanHabana, Morné du Plessis and @SFitzpatrick92 relive a life-changing moment in sport…
This is the incredible story of how the @Springboks‘ 1995 @rugbyworldcup win in front of President Mandela united a nation 🇿🇦🏉
🎥 @WorldRugby pic.twitter.com/zkcQnKa0Y6
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) October 30, 2019
Els further recounted that his desire to address the issue of white persecution in South Africa to the nation’s leadership had been a long time coming.
“That’s why we really wanted to meet you, meet the administration, and see our way forward, because we still want to see our country flourish,” he said.
Els expressed his confidence that the U.S. could help shepherd South Africa through the process of treating all citizens fairly.
When the golfer finished, Trump remarked, “Boy, did you do that well,” breaking the tension in the room and sparking laughter, including from Ramaphosa.
Els did offer a powerful voice outside of the political world, with words that no doubt will resonate with many.
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