Special edition: Trump vs Ramaphosa with News24’s top editors

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Unprecedented and historic scenes played out in the White House on Wednesday night when US President Donald Trump had a television rolled into the Oval Office, playing a video of EFF leader, Julius Malema, singing ‘Kill the Boer’ to drive home the claim of “white genocide” in South Africa. However, following lunch with Trump, champion golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, billionaires Elon Musk and Johann Rupert, President Cyril Ramaphosa insisted to reporters that: “There’s doubt and disbelief in his (Trump’s) head,” about this false narrative. In this very special edition of The Lead, host Graeme Raubenheimer, News24 editor-in-chief, Adriaan Basson, assistant editor for investigations, Pieter du Toit, and deputy business editor, Ahmed Areff, dissect the standoff between the heads of state and where it leaves South Africa as a country. Who was the best speaker in the room? How do we tackle crime back home? And where does it leave the right wing? Basson says maybe it’s time to “reset South Africa”. Mail your comments and voice notes to thelead@24.com. Editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.  
Chapters
  • 00:01 Graeme's intro
  • 02:10 News24 editors' panel discussion
  • 51:42 Graeme's outro
22 May 2025 English South Africa News · Society & Culture

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