The evidence of alleged mass killings of white South Africans presented by Donald Trump at the White House was, in some cases, photographs from the Democratic Republic of Congo. It came during a tense discussion between the US president and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, the Guardian reported.

"These are all white farmers who are buried," Trump said, holding up a printout of an article accompanied by a photo.

The photo accompanying the article is actually a screenshot from a video released by Reuters on February 3 and subsequently verified by the news agency's fact-checking team, which shows aid workers lifting body bags in the Congolese town of Goma. The image was taken from Reuters footage taken after deadly fighting with Rwandan-backed M23 rebels.

At another point in the meeting, Trump laid a trap for Ramaphosa by releasing a video that he said proved that genocide was being committed against whites in South Africa. It featured footage that Trump claimed showed the graves of more than a thousand white farmers marked with white crosses.

The footage - filmed on a highway linking the small towns of Newcastle and Normandy in South Africa - actually showed a memorial site, not graves.

Rob Hoatson, who created the memorial to attract public attention, told the BBC it was not a burial ground.

"This is a memorial. It was not a permanent memorial that was erected. It was a temporary memorial," he said. The memorial was erected after the murder of two African farmers in the local community.

The video released by Trump contained several lies and inaccuracies, but was intended to support the president's offer of "sanctuary" to the persecuted white farmers, angering the South African government, which disputes the allegations. The White House claims it shows evidence of genocide against white farmers in South Africa. This conspiracy theory, which has circulated for years among the far right, is based on false claims.

The video prominently features Julius Malema, a politician known for his radical rhetoric. In several clips, he is seen wearing the red beret of his populist, Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party and chanting calls to "cut the throat of whiteness," as well as the anti-apartheid song "Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer."

The Republican president falsely claimed that Malema was a public servant, implying that his inflammatory slogans reflected official policy against South Africa's white minority.

Malema is an opposition politician who became known for radical reforms, including land redistribution and nationalisation of key economic sectors.

The party came only fourth in last year's elections with 9.5% of the vote. During the Oval Office meeting, Ramaphosa and his delegation distanced themselves from Malema's rhetoric. | BGNES