G20 Fallout: Trump cannot decree exclusion of South Africa from the international forum

The Trumpster Dumpster has done it again. While we were just starting to enjoy the recently cleaned up and fixed up Joburg and surrounds after successfully hosting the G20, US President Donald Trump has gone out of his way again to dump dirt on South Africa.

While other similarly spineless demagogues will use fake news, disinformation, exaggerations and so on, the unstable individual occupying the once-glorious White House for the next 1 000 or so days has become known for using pure lies – or blue lies, as we say here in beautiful Mzansi.

There is no diplomatic way to describe Trump’s lies. And what’s more, he not only blurts out these lies while travelling around or playing golf, he puts it down in black and white and publishes it. Which boggles the mind because, clearly, his political base who are the target market for his electioneering lies don’t read very much.

I pity his aides and media people who have to help him check the garbage he often generates for publication on social media and other platforms. It must be hard to check grammar and spelling on such balderdash with a straight face. It's unbelievable rubbish, but it's in black and white and published for the whole world to read. Here is the latest:

"The United States did not attend the G20 in South Africa because the South African government refuses to acknowledge or address the horrific human rights abuses endured by Afrikaners and other descendants of Dutch, French and German settlers."

​“To put it more bluntly, they are killing white people and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them…”

The US presidency year, which effectively began this week when Trump sent some representative to fetch the colourful G20 gavel from Pretoria, will be very interesting.

But I shudder to think what Trump will do with our “Rainbow Nation” gavel. Will he rip off the beautiful beadwork that symbolises our “unity in diversity”? And what about the gold bands that are a symbol of South Africa and Africa’s rich endowment in gold and other precious minerals?

While Trump may think and act like he is king of America, he is certainly not the G20’s or the whole world’s. He can’t decree the exclusion of South Africa.