Zuma slams US trip: ‘We don’t need Americans to fix SA’

Zuma

Cape Town  – Former president Jacob Zuma has taken a thinly veiled swipe at the South African delegation that recently visited Washington, DC, to lobby investment from US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Speaking to MK Party supporters in KwaMaphumulo, south of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal over the weekend, Zuma weighed in on the May working visit led by President Cyril Ramaphosa and four ministers, part of Pretoria’s attempt to reset strained bilateral ties with the United States.

The visit came amid heightened tensions, with the Trump administration previously criticising South Africa’s foreign and domestic equity laws — strains that had pushed relations to an all-time low. During talks in Washington, the delegation dismissed claims of a genocide against White South Africans and called on the US to assist with technology-driven solutions to combat rising crime.

Zuma, however, appeared to criticise the move.

“You can go to America for all we care but we refuse to have our problems fixed by Americans we don’t even know. We want to fix our own problems,” EWN quote Zuma as saying.

Meanwhile, American pastor and political figure Mark Burns, who recently visited South Africa, has publicly refuted longstanding claims of a “White genocide” in the country. Burns met with White farmers, business leaders, and even former apartheid officials, and said he was “genuinely surprised” by their rejection of the narrative.

“There is no ‘White genocide’ happening here,” Burns posted on social media. “They [White South Africans] were genuinely surprised that this claim even made it to the international stage.”

While acknowledging that the anti-apartheid song “Kill the Boer,” popularised by EFF leader Julius Malema, is seen as “divisive” by many, Burns emphasised that South Africa’s high crime rates affect all communities — especially Black South Africans, who comprise the majority of victims.

“What is real is the devastatingly high crime rate across the country, with most of the victims being Black South Africans. Unemployment is crushing, and poverty is driving violent crime in all communities,” he said.

Burns credited a past Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ramaphosa with unintentionally sparking broader national dialogue. He highlighted three key outcomes from that engagement:

  1. National unity against the White genocide narrative.

  2. A sharper focus on crime and public safety.

  3. Calls to revisit Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policies for broader inclusion.

He noted that many White South Africans he spoke with “love their country” and believe Trump was misinformed. “The truth is more complicated,” he concluded, “but South Africans, Black and White, are working together to move forward.”

Burns also expressed hope that Trump will attend the upcoming G20 summit in South Africa, where President Ramaphosa is expected to hand over the presidency of the group to the United States.

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