In a blistering rebuke amid escalating diplomatic tensions ahead of South Africa’s historic G20 Summit, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) President Julius Malema has unleashed a sharp critique of U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing him of hypocrisy and using fabricated narratives to dodge international accountability.
Malema’s comments, delivered during a fiery press briefing at the EFF’s Johannesburg headquarters on Tuesday, come just days after Trump announced on Truth Social that the United States would not send a delegation to the G20 Leaders’ Summit scheduled for November 22-23 in Johannesburg – the first time the event is hosted on African soil. Trump’s decision, which he framed as a stand against alleged “white genocide” and land expropriation policies in South Africa, included a video montage featuring Malema’s past parliamentary speeches and rally chants, including the controversial “Kill the Boer” slogan.
“Trump is a delusional barbarian, hiding behind lies peddled by racists to avoid facing his global peers,” Malema declared, his voice echoing the EFF’s trademark revolutionary fervor. “He cites my words on land justice – words spoken in defense of the dispossessed – as if they represent government policy. This is not about South Africa; it’s about a man too cowardly to confront the mess of his tariffs and isolationism on the world stage.”
The U.S. president’s post reignited a year-long feud, fueled by Trump’s earlier actions: cutting U.S. aid to South Africa in February over the Expropriation Act, expelling South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, and snubbing G20 foreign ministers’ meetings hosted by Pretoria. Trump has repeatedly amplified claims of anti-white violence, often drawing from clips of Malema advocating for land redistribution without compensation – a core EFF policy aimed at redressing apartheid-era inequalities.
Malema didn’t hold back on AfriForum, the Afrikaner rights group that has lobbied aggressively in Washington, handing over a “Malema dossier” to Trump administration officials in September and celebrating the boycott as validation of their warnings. “AfriForum are the real architects of this sabotage,” Malema charged. “These racists, with their white supremacist allies like Trump and Elon Musk, spread disinformation about ‘genocide’ to protect stolen land. We demand action: investigations into AfriForum for treasonous meddling, sanctions on their leaders for inciting international hostility, and a full exposure of their ties to foreign interference.”
The EFF leader called for South Africans to rally against what he termed a “global white monopoly capital plot,” urging President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration to prioritize farm murder probes as a national security issue while rejecting U.S. demands to repeal key expropriation clauses. “Let Trump boycott; history will judge him as the outsider he is. South Africa rises without the imperialists.”
Reactions poured in swiftly on social media, with #MalemaVsTrump trending in South Africa. ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula echoed Malema’s frustration earlier this week, accusing Trump of “punishing” Pretoria over “fabricated claims” without direct dialogue. AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel countered on X, hailing the boycott as proof of America’s alignment with “farm murder victims” and demanding the government condemn the “Kill the Boer” chant as ethnic incitement.
As the G20 countdown intensifies – with themes of inclusive growth and African representation at the forefront – Malema’s swipe underscores the high stakes: not just bilateral ties, but the summit’s potential to elevate South Africa’s voice amid global trade wars and inequality debates. Diplomatic sources hint at backchannel efforts to salvage U.S. participation, but with Trump’s midterms looming and his “America First” rhetoric unyielding, the summit risks proceeding without one of its founding members.
The EFF, polling at around 10% nationally, has leveraged the spat to boost its anti-imperialist credentials, with Malema quipping that Trump “would be lucky to still be president by November.” Whether this escalates into broader economic reprisals or fades as election-season bluster remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the G20’s African debut is already a battleground for old wounds and new power plays.
