White House meeting was ‘a sad display’ – Prof Patrick Bond, University of Johannesburg
The highly anticipated meeting between Cyril Ramaphosa and Donald Trump was filled with chaotic moments. Lester Kiewit interviews sociologist Prof Patrick Bond.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and US President Donald Trump shake hands during their meeting. Photo: AFP
CapeTalk’s Lester Kiewit speaks with Prof Patrick Bond, Director of the Centre for Social Change in the Department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg.
Listen below:
When President Cyril Ramaphosa and his envoy arrived at the White House, US President Donald Trump wasted no time diving into theatrics.
He brought with him printouts of news stories about murders of white farmers and played clips of the EFF’s Julius Malema chanting 'kill the boer' as evidence for his allegations of a 'white genocide'.
Bond says Trump’s primary voter base is disillusioned white men from working and middle-class backgrounds, who would respond strongly to this narrative.
He feels Ernie Els fed into this, speaking to Trump of apartheid in an almost nostalgic way.
“That sort of buddy-buddy racism through the golfing fraternity was, to me, disgusting.”
- Patrick Bond, Department of Sociology - University of Johannesburg
He argues that instead of bringing a cross-section of South Africa to the meeting, Ramaphosa focused on ‘elite deal-making.’
RELATED: South Africa could have been better prepared for Oval Office accusations - US policy expert
In doing so, he argues that Ramaphosa failed to address the core issues in our country.
“It was a sad display last night.”
- Patrick Bond, Department of Sociology - University of Johannesburg
Scroll up to the audio player for more.