In an era where disinformation travels faster than diplomacy, moral clarity is often met with reprisal. South Africa now finds itself in the crosshairs – not for wrongdoing, but for asking the world’s most uncomfortable legal question: Can powerful nations be held to account when civilians suffer on a massive scale?

In January 2024, South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. Across much of the Global South, this was viewed not as provocation, but as a legal and moral imperative. Yet the backlash was swift – and from Donald Trump, theatrically familiar. His revival of the long-debunked “white genocide” myth, claiming white South African farmers are being systematically murdered, wasn’t an offhand remark. It was a calculated deflection, a retaliatory narrative disguised as concern.

Rhetoric Over Reality

This script isn’t new. In 2018, Trump tweeted about “large-scale killing” of white farmers and ordered an investigation—a claim lifted directly from white nationalist talking points. It was quickly discredited by Reuters, the BBC, and South African data experts. South Africa’s high murder rate, while deeply troubling, is neither racially orchestrated nor one-sided. It reflects deep-rooted inequality and structural dysfunction.

Why return to this fiction now? Because it works as a political provocation – stirring Trump’s base at home and reframing moral actors from the Global South as unstable or extreme. It’s not just distraction; it’s diplomatic retaliation by narrative.

When Misinformation Replaces Diplomacy

Former South African ambassador Ebrahim Rasool recently told CNN that the U.S. diplomatic chill “feels like punishment” for South Africa’s legal stance. His words echo a broader reality: when traditional diplomacy breaks down, misinformation becomes the weapon of choice.

Trump’s approach follows a familiar pattern. During his presidency, truth often gave way to performance – whether abandoning the Iran nuclear deal or normalising autocrats under the banner of pragmatism. These actions cost lives, eroded global trust, and undermined institutions. The targeting of South Africa follows the same script: discredit, distract, and delegitimise.

A Nation with Scars – and Resolve

South Africa is no stranger to internal struggle. It continues to face gender-based violence, corruption, economic inequality, and failing service delivery. But it also carries a powerful memory – of dismantling apartheid not only through resistance but through law, diplomacy, and international solidarity. That memory still shapes its stance today.

By bringing the Gaza case to the ICJ, South Africa invokes not just law, but moral consistency. It is not siding with any faction – it is standing with principle. In a world where power often escapes scrutiny, this legal and ethical stand matters. Human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, have reinforced the credibility of the claims made in the ICJ filings.

From Retaliation to Reckoning

This isn’t only about Trump. It’s about how narratives are used to punish dissent and shield impunity. Misinformation – documented in numerous UN reports on global conflict – has become a frontline tactic in suppressing justice. And when a state like South Africa chooses law over silence, retaliation reveals how threatened power truly feels.

Writing from Australia, with deep respect for South Africa’s democratic journey, I see this not simply as geopolitical theatre – but as a test of global conscience. If legal accountability triggers backlash rather than introspection, what does that say about our collective readiness to confront suffering with honesty?

Let Integrity Have the Final Word

There is reason for hope. More people are paying attention. More are asking questions. And more understand that power without accountability is not stability – it is danger.

In this theatre of misinformation, we don’t need more performers. We need witnesses. Advocates. Truth-tellers. Let the final word belong not to spectacle, but to integrity – across continents, headlines, and generations.

Paul Alexander Wolf