Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. (Photo: Kopano Tlape/GCIS)
The US Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs took on Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, on X about his latest comments about Pres. Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
The bureau, which is responsible for the development and management of American policy regarding Africa, responded directly to Lamola’s statements in a post.
FM @RonaldLamola, you blame concerns about violence and failed governance on “MAGA politics.” Ghana and Nigeria just airlifted their citizens out of your country. Thousands of South Africans are fleeing to America to escape your government’s Left-wing policies. Unemployment still… https://t.co/EfZQajDEHL
— Bureau of African Affairs (@AsstSecStateAF) May 28, 2026
“Minister Ronald Lamola, you attribute concerns about violence and failed government to ‘MAGA politics’. Ghana and Nigeria just had to remove their citizens from your country. Thousands of South Africans are fleeing to the US to escape your government’s leftist policies.
“Unemployment remains at 33%, while you and corrupt government elites get rich while you promote racially based legislation and sing ‘Kill the Boer’,” the post read.
The statement follows after Ernst van Zyl from AfriForum shared a video on X in which Lamola says:
“We know that the MAGA movement in the US is very clearly out to attack black people. We know what they stand for. They stand against human rights.”
The South Africa Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, has once again attacked President Donald Trump and the millions of Americans that voted for him:
“We know, that in the US, the MAGA movement is very clear to attack black people. We know what… pic.twitter.com/vg3JYUnHLI
— Conscious Caracal ???????? (@ConCaracal) May 27, 2026
Van Zyl also referred to an interview that Lamola granted to CNN in November 2025, in which he accused the Trump administration of promoting an “agenda of white supremacy”.
The U.S. Bureau of African Affairs focuses, among other things, on promoting trade and economic ties between the U.S. and African states, protecting the U.S. from cross-border health and security threats, as well as supporting stability, accountable government, and self-reliance in Africa.
The latest exchange of words comes amid strained relations between South Africa’s government and the US after the Trump administration repeatedly criticized South Africa over, among other things, land policy, race-based legislation and discrimination against minority groups.