President Donald Trump meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for discussions at the White House at a time of tense relations between the two countries.
Mr Trump has criticised South African officials, accusing them of facilitating “genocide” against white minority farmers, but the claims are widely denied.
South African officials have strongly rejected Mr Trump's allegations, and Mr Ramaphosa has arranged a meeting to clear the air and preserve his country's relations with the US.
Bilateral ties are at their lowest since South Africa's system of apartheid and racial segregation ended in 1994.
Mr Ramaphosa was met by Mr Trump, who arrived at the White House just after midday for lunch and talks in the Oval Office.
Mr Trump cut off all US financial aid to South Africa and accepted dozens of white South African farmers into the US as refugees.
He made a number of accusations against the black-led South African government, including allegations of seizing land from white farmers, pursuing anti-white policies, and pursuing an anti-American foreign policy.
In February, Mr Trump signed an order cutting off funding to South Africa over certain aspects of its domestic and foreign policies.
The order criticises the South African government on several fronts, including that it has anti-white policies and supports “bad actors” on the world stage such as the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Iran.
Ahead of the meeting, a White House official said topics discussed between Trump and Ramaphosa would likely include the need to condemn politicians who “promote genocidal rhetoric” and classify farm attacks as a priority crime.
The official, speaking anonymously to discuss internal matters, said Mr Trump was also likely to raise issues of racial barriers to trade in South Africa and the need to “stop scaring off investors.”
Mr Trump has incorrectly accused the South African government of violating the rights of white Afrikaner farmers by seizing their land through a new expropriation law.
No land was seized, and the South African government responded by saying the US criticism was based on misinformation.
The Trump administration's references to the Afrikaner people, who are descendants of Dutch and other European settlers, also confirm previous statements made
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
