21/05/2025
Today, my heart is heavy, my thoughts are tangled, and silence feels like betrayal.
I’ve just watched a video of President Cyril Ramaphosa visiting former U.S. President Donald Trump. You can find it here. As I listened, I found myself unsure whether to feel anger, sadness, pride, or just confusion.
Our President opened with words of gratitude — saying it was a privilege to be there and that South Africa has a “tiny” economy that needs America. Tiny? With our natural resources, our brilliant minds, and a population still resilient in the face of generational trauma? Tiny — even as we boot corruption and rebuild? And yes, I noticed — our President wore a red tie, Trump wore blue. A subtle nod to the U.S. flag perhaps, but worth noting.
Then, Trump played a video from the EFF. Bafwethu, was that a joke? Did he understand the context? Or was it just another tool to shame us on the global stage? And while our President and his team scrambled to “clear the narrative,” I wondered: is this really diplomacy, or submission?
Let’s talk about the thousands of Black South Africans killed in our own country — not during apartheid, but now. Black farmworkers abused, women forced to eat their own waste, children sleeping with animals, boys r***d by their employers. This isn’t history — it’s 2022 to 2025. If Trump really cared about violence against minorities, why hasn't he spoken about the systemic violence against Black people in America?
And who are the richest in South Africa? Two of them were sitting right there — power in human form. Did Trump know that? Did it matter?
I heard what Ernie Els and Johann Rupert said. And yes, I understand strategy, economics, diplomacy — or at least I try. But how is it that America always ends up taking Africa’s best and brightest? Why are we not investing in ourselves, building factories instead of closing them, reclaiming our dignity instead of begging for “aid”?
America needs us — more than we are made to believe. Yet we’re constantly told how “privileged” we are to be acknowledged.
As we approach
