South Africans divided on Cyril Ramaphosa's mauling by Donald Trump

Right-wing Afrikaners groups celebrated the ambush but others in the Rainbow Nation found it "uncomfortable" to watch.

Watch LiveBritish Broadcasting CorporationHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcastsRadioAudio FAQsVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveWeatherNewslettersWatch LiveHow Trump-Ramaphosa confrontation went down in South Africa4 days agoShareSaveFarouk ChothiaBBC NewsShareSaveWatch: 'Turn the lights down' - how the Trump-Ramaphosa meeting took an unexpected turnDonald Trump has proved to be the political Rottweiler of right-wing Afrikaner groups, taking their fight to South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa.

They were quick to celebrate the US president's ambush of Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, with the Solidarity Movement - which had toured the US to lobby the Trump administration - saying it welcomed the fact that South Africa's "enormous problems have been placed on the international stage".

Ernst Roets, a leading personality on the Afrikaner right, showed his admiration for the US president.

"Donald Trump made history today," he said in a post on X, before thanking him for showing videos of firebrand opposition politician Julius Malema singing "Shoot the Boer (Afrikaner); Shoot the farmer" - and what appeared to be print-outs of stories of white people being attacked.

Solidarity's Jaco Kleynhans went further, saying Trump deserved a Nobel Prize for "putting the farm murder crisis on the international agenda".