'I will lose my five-bedroom house': Afrikaner 'refugee' settled in the US speaks
Two of the 49 Afrikaner 'refugees' have shared their stories about why they decided to leave South Africa for the United States (US).
In February, US President Donald Trump instructed his officials to grant refugee status to Afrikaners, citing their experiences of discrimination. On Monday, 49 Afrikaners arrived in Washington and were welcomed by US Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau.
Thea van Straten, who owned a guesthouse and cattle in the Free State, said that she had been attacked four times on her farm in the last two years. In an interview with retired Army officer Colonel Chris Wyatt, she described her most recent attack, which occurred while she was applying for refugee status.
'It's not safe, I mean, I survived four attacks,' she said when asked why she decided to take 'Trump's offer'.
Van Straten said she was currently in the process of selling her farm.
'It's me, myself and whatever I have in my banking accounts..and couple of suitcases. If it [the farm] doesn't get sold, it doesn't get sold. That's it. I am taking the risk,' she said.
Charl Kleinhaus (46) is another Afrikaner who applied for the refugee programme in the US. Speaking to BBC , he said he was living on his family farm in Mpumalanga before relocating to the States recently.
'I had to leave a five-bedroom house, which I will lose now because I'm not going to pay for it; [I left] my car behind, my dogs behind, my mother behind. I didn't come here for fun, but my children are safe. If you are white, you are wrong in South Africa. You're [labelled] a land thief, you're a racist. I had nothing to do with apartheid, nothing, nothing, nothing,' Kleinhaus said.
'It was overwhelming, I didn't expect it because I thought we were going to be in a shuttle bus, take us somewhere and start working. All of us who are here know we're going to start from the bottom,' he said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to meet with US leader Donald Trump in Washington DC next week.
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211.
Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TimesLIVE
2 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Five nations and EU urge Trump not to impose new aircraft tariffs
Five nations and the EU, as well as airlines and aerospace firms worldwide, have urged the Trump administration not to impose new national security tariffs on imported commercial aircraft and parts, documents released on Tuesday showed. Airlines and aircraft manufacturers have been lobbying President Donald Trump to restore the tariff-free regime under the 1979 Civil Aircraft Agreement that has yielded an annual trade surplus of $75bn (R1.32-trillion) for the US industry. The documents made public by the US commerce department bared concerns about the fallout of possible new tariffs expressed by companies as well as Canada, China, Japan, Mexico and Switzerland, besides the EU. 'As reliable trading partners, the EU and US should strengthen their trade regarding aircraft and aircraft parts, rather than hinder it by imposing trade restrictions,' the EU wrote. It would consider its options 'to ensure a level playing field', it added. Trump has imposed tariffs of 10% on nearly all aircraft and parts imports. 'No country or region should attempt to support the development of its domestic aircraft manufacturing industry by suppressing foreign competitors,' the Chinese government wrote. Separately, US manufacturer Boeing cited a recent trade deal unveiled in May with Britain that ensures tariff-free treatment for aircraft and parts. 'The US should ensure duty-free treatment for commercial aircraft and their parts in any negotiated trade agreement, similar to its efforts with the UK,' Boeing told the commerce department in a filing. Mexico said in 2024 it exported $1.45bn (R25.7bn) in aircraft parts, a 10th of the total, to the US. The EU said it took US exports of aircraft worth about $12bn (R212.72bn), while exporting about $8bn (R141.82bn) of aircraft to the US. In early May, the commerce department launched a 'section 232" national security investigation into imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines and parts that could form the basis for higher tariffs on such imports. Last week, Delta Air Lines and major trade groups warned of tariffs' impact on ticket prices, aviation safety and supply chains. 'US tariffs on aviation are putting domestic production of commercial aircraft at risk,' Airbus Americas CEO Robin Hayes said in a filing. 'It is not realistic or sensible today to create a 100% domestic supply chain in any country.' Boeing said it had been increasing US content in its aircraft over the past decade and its newest models, the 737 MAX 10 and 777X, would have 'more than 88% domestically-sourced content'. The United Auto Workers union, which represents 10,000 aerospace workers, said it supports tariffs and domestic production quotas, adding US aerospace employment has fallen to 510,000 in 2024 from 850,000 in 1990. 'To safeguard the aerospace supply chain across the commercial and defence sectors, comprehensive tariffs and production quotas on several products are needed,' it said. JetBlue Airways opposed new tariffs, however, saying: 'Trade policy should reinforce, not destabilise, the proven systems that keep our aircraft flying safely and affordably.'
The South African
3 hours ago
- The South African
Elon Musk admits Donald Trump X tirade 'went too far'
Elon Musk, the world's richest person and Donald Trump's former advisor, said on Wednesday he regretted some of his recent criticisms of the US president, after the pair's public falling-out last week. 'I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,' Musk wrote on his social media platform X. Musk's expression of regret came just days after Trump threatened the tech billionaire with 'serious consequences' if he sought to punish Republicans who vote for a controversial spending bill. Their blistering break-up – largely carried out on social media before a riveted public on Thursday last week – was ignited by Musk's harsh criticism of Trump's so-called 'big, beautiful' spending bill, which is currently before Congress. Some lawmakers who were against the bill had called on Musk – one of the Republican Party's biggest financial backers in last year's presidential election – to fund primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the legislation. 'He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,' Trump, who also branded Musk 'disrespectful,' told NBC News on Saturday, without specifying what those consequences would be. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news. By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
TimesLIVE
3 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
South African macadamia farmers eye Asian markets after US tariff jolt
But US President Donald Trump's drive to impose higher tariffs could disrupt that. Though the 'reciprocal' levies announced by Trump on April 2 — set at 31% for South Africa — have been paused to allow for negotiations, Likhanya said he and fellow macadamia nut farmers were already looking for alternative markets. 'I believe there's much more we can do internationally to explore other markets. There are markets we are talking to. We're talking to India,' Likhanya, 40, told Reuters in an interview at his farm. 'India has 1.5-billion people that are also looking for macadamia. So there's an alternative plan.' Other South African farmer groups have warned of potential devastation from the US tariffs. Citrus growers, whose annual exports to the US average $100m (R1.77bn), have said tariffs could potentially hit 35,000 jobs in their industry. Likhanya, a board member at Macadamias South Africa, the main industry body for growers, described the tariff stand-off as a 'lose-lose' situation and hopes it can be resolved. 'America imports kernels which they further process. Those [processing] jobs are threatened. So it's a win-win or lose-lose situation, which I believe we do not want to get into,' he said
