The African National Congress (ANC) has condemned United States President Donald Trump’s claims of “genocide” and “persecution” of white South Africans, describing them as: “false, inflammatory, and racially charged.”

In a statement issued over the weekend, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said Trump’s comments and his boycott of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg form part of: “a long and disgraceful pattern of imperial arrogance and disinformation.”

Trump had last week posted on Truth Social that the US would be boycotting the G20 Summit in South Africa because of “persecution” of Afrikaners.

The party said the remarks were: “deliberate attempts to distort the reality of South Africa's democracy and to mobilise racial fear for political gain in the United States.”

“The ANC rejects with contempt any insinuation that our country’s transformation agenda is driven by racial disposition,” the statement continued, asserting that South Africa: “is a sovereign and constitutional democracy governed by the rule of law.”

Referencing the G20 Summit theme of “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” the party said the event: “demonstrates its leadership, vision, and commitment to global cooperation.” It added that: “the success of the summit will not be defined by who refuses to attend, but by the shared determination of nations that believe in multilateralism based on respect and equality among peoples.”

Bhengu said Trump’s record: “speaks of a man driven by prejudice, not principle,” accusing him of: “continued siding with racist and right-wing movements across the world.” The statement concluded that: “the ANC calls on progressive forces across the world to reject the revival of colonial tropes and to stand in solidarity with Africa's right to self-determination,” affirming that South Africa: “will not be bullied, defined, or distracted by imperial nostalgia masquerading as concern.”

The Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO) also condemned Trump’s remarks. In a statement it said: “The South African Government wishes to state, for the record, that the characterisation of Afrikaners as an exclusively white group is ahistorical. Furthermore, the claim that this community faces persecution, is not substantiated by fact.”