Latest news with #Amerikaners
The South African
3 days ago
- Politics
- The South African
SECOND group of white Afrikaner 'refugees' arrive in United States
A second group of white South African Afrikaners have reportedly arrived in the United States under a controversial refugee policy signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year, sparking renewed global debate over race, immigration, and political messaging. According to posts from the US-based advocacy group Amerikaners , nine white South Africans landed in Atlanta this week as part of a pilot programme framed by the Trump administration as a response to alleged violence and land expropriation in South Africa – claims widely discredited by international human rights organisations. The executive order, quietly signed in February, granted refugee status to select white South Africans, citing fears of a so-called 'white genocide' – a term critics say is rooted in white nationalist rhetoric rather than verified facts. Organisations like Human Rights Watch and Africa Check maintain that while farm attacks do occur, there is no evidence of systemic targeting along racial lines. Among the recent arrivals is Charl Kleinhaus, 46, from Mpumalanga, who told the BBC he left his home, family, and dogs behind to pursue what he called a 'safer future' for his children. Another, 48-year-old Errol Langton, a farmer from KwaZulu-Natal, expressed hope to continue farming in the US. A source within the US government told The Hill that the goal is to resettle 'thousands more' Afrikaners by the end of the American summer, with consular processing already being expedited in Pretoria and Cape Town. This rapid acceleration has raised red flags. Critics say the policy selectively elevates a racially privileged group while overlooking far greater humanitarian crises in conflict zones like Sudan, Yemen, or the DRC. Still, right-wing US commentators have praised the move as a humanitarian response. South African reactions, meanwhile, remain split: some see it as a lifeline; others as a dangerous and racially charged distortion of the country's reality. Both the US State Department and the South African government have declined to comment publicly on the numbers or long-term intentions of the refugee programme. Analysts warn it could become a flashpoint issue in both domestic and foreign policy – particularly as the US heads into the 2026 election cycle. For now, however, the quiet arrival of these Afrikaner families marks the start of a broader, more contentious immigration experiment – one unfolding at the intersection of politics, identity, and international diplomacy. 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.
The Citizen
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
Second chance for Amerikaner ‘refugees'
Amerikaner refugees are bit players who have strayed into the spotlight in a piece of political theatre between the ANC and Trump. The first group of Afrikaners from South Africa to arrive for resettlement in the US. Picture: Saul Loeb / AFP The granting of refugee status to a small group of white Afrikaners by the US – an offer that has been extended to include members of other racial minorities who can credibly demonstrate that they are being discriminated against – will have profoundly negative implications for SA. It puts the ANC-led government in a quandary about a slew of controversial legislation regarding hot-button issues such as race quotas, black economic empowerment, property and language rights and hate speech. Trump placed marker on SA Beyond the silly hyperbole about genocide and rampant land seizures, the important fact is the world's most powerful nation has laid down a marker that there are indeed 'bad things happening in South Africa', to quote US President Donald Trump, and that these amount to racial discrimination. While the local media childishly insists on putting the word refugee in quotation marks whenever they refer to those going to the US under Trump's executive order, that word is now a juristic definition of their status. It's a hugely important legal distinction with far-reaching implications. It not only opens the door to many thousands of minority-group citizens – not just farmers, not just Afrikaners, not just whites – fleeing to the US, but will undoubtedly influence other immigration authorities. WATCH: SA 'refugees' leave for US 'Amerikaner refugees' vs South Africans For the moment, however, the matter is playing on a much pettier level. Who would have thought that the departure of fewer than five dozen Afrikaners could cause such an outpouring of undeserved media vitriol and government anger? It's especially odd given that an estimated 1-2 million people have emigrated unremarked upon since the ANC took power. The national ego has been badly dented and it transpires that hell hath no fury like South Africans scorned. Even our normally imperturbable president has given public vent. Cyril Ramaphosa last week lambasted the group as 'cowards' who would 'very soon' be scuttling back to South Africa with their tails between their legs. ALSO READ: Trump administration slams church for refusing to resettle white South Africans in America Will the Amerikaners get caught in the Trump vs ANC crossfire? Meanwhile, everyone is hard at work seeking scapegoats. Afrikaner civic action group AfriForum, for one, is firmly in the crosshairs. The Amerikaners, as they've derisively been dubbed, hopefully realise things will be hard. They are bit players who have strayed into the spotlight in a piece of political theatre between the ANC and Trump. They should know, too, that back home their every failure will be magnified and gloated over, their every success minimised. It's a misguided response by the government and its cheerleaders. The reality is that SA, if it continues on the ANC's present course, will experience a massive exodus of human capital it can ill afford to lose and those leaving in future will mainly, but by no means only, be minorities. However, all the quibbling about whether the Amerikaners are just wallowing in victimhood or genuinely seeking refuge mean less than the smug commentators assume and the dishonest politicians pretend. Yes, there are gradations of agency, of volition, across the spectrum of emigrant, exile and refugee. But contradictions abound. There are penniless, footsore emigrants and plump, wellshod refugees. Perhaps the thing that they most have in common is heartache. ALSO READ: Afrikaner claims of persecution are a fat lie What lies ahead for Amerikaner refugees While some may leave the land of their forefathers with a sense of relief – a smile on their lips and a song in their hearts – in my experience, they're relatively few. To depart this South Africa, the ancient land that magically weaves through our present hopes, fears, triumphs and defeats, is not easy. To leave behind permanently the land that has forged one's identity and in doing so become part of one's soul, is heartrending. It's a death of sorts. But also, if one is fortunate, it can be a do-over, a second chance, or even a rebirth. NOW READ: Victory for asylum seekers: High Court declares parts of Refugees Act unconstitutional
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
S. Africa condemns 'misinformation' after Trump freezes aid
South Africa on Saturday condemned a "campaign of misinformation" after US President Donald Trump issued an order freezing aid to the country over a law he alleges allows land to be seized from white farmers. "We are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation," the government said. Land ownership is a contentious issue in South Africa, with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid. It is a legacy of a policy of expropriating land from the black population that endured during apartheid and the colonial period before it. "It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favour among decision-makers in the United States of America," Pretoria said. Trump claimed on Friday the law would "enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners' agricultural property without compensation". The allegation came in an executive order, which also noted foreign policy clashes between the United States and South Africa over the war in Gaza, particularly Pretoria's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. South Africa's foreign ministry said it "has taken note" of Trump's executive order but added: "It is of great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognize South Africa's profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid." "It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship." The South African president's office has denied any intention of 'seizing lands". Trump's executive order pledges to assist the 'ethnic minority Afrikaners" -- descendants of the first European settlers, including offering refugee status to what it said were "racially disfavoured landowners". State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Saturday that "persecuted South African farmers and other innocent victims being targeted solely based on their race who choose to resettle in America will be welcome." "The United States will also defend the rights and interests of those remaining descendants of settlers threatened with expropriation without compensation and other intolerable abuses," she said on X. - 'Afrikaners or Amerikaners?' - President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a national address on Thursday his country would not be "intimidated" by the United States. "We are witnessing the rise of nationalism, protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests and the decline of common cause," Ramaphosa said. Trump made a blanket claim that the South African land law would allow the government to seize Afrikaners' property "without compensation". The law, which came into force in January, clarifies the legal framework for expropriations. Most legal experts stress it does not add new content. It allows the government, as a matter of public interest, to decide on expropriations without compensation -- but only in certain exceptional circumstances where it would be "just and equitable". For several days, South Africans of all racial origins have taken to social media to mock the US stance. "Should we now call them Amerikaners?" quipped one person on Saturday. "Should we expect wine estates or safari reserves to be evacuated?" joked another. Most estates and private reserves in the country belong to white families. On Saturday, Afriforum, a small organisation dedicated to "protecting and promoting the Afrikaner identity", expressed its "great appreciation" to Trump, while stressing that white South Africans' place was in their home country. White South Africans make up around seven percent of the population, according to date from 2022. Afrikaners make up a proportion of that group. Trump's ally Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa under apartheid, has accused Ramaphosa's government of having "openly racist ownership laws". ger/gil/jhb
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
S. Africa condemns 'misinformation' after Trump freezes aid
South Africa on Saturday condemned a "campaign of misinformation" after US President Donald Trump issued an order freezing aid to the country over a law he alleges allows land to be seized from white farmers. "We are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation," the government said. Land ownership is a contentious issue in South Africa, with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid. It is a legacy of a policy of expropriating land from the black population that endured during apartheid and the colonial period before it. "It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favour among decision-makers in the United States of America," Pretoria said. Trump claimed on Friday the law would "enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners' agricultural property without compensation". The allegation came in an executive order, which also noted foreign policy clashes between the United States and South Africa over the war in Gaza, particularly Pretoria's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. South Africa's foreign ministry said it "has taken note" of Trump's executive order but added: "It is of great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognize South Africa's profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid." "It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship." The South African president's office has denied any intention of 'seizing lands". Trump's executive order pledges to assist the 'ethnic minority Afrikaners" -- descendants of the first European settlers, including offering refugee status to what it said were "racially disfavoured landowners". State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Saturday that "persecuted South African farmers and other innocent victims being targeted solely based on their race who choose to resettle in America will be welcome." "The United States will also defend the rights and interests of those remaining descendants of settlers threatened with expropriation without compensation and other intolerable abuses," she said on X. - 'Afrikaners or Amerikaners?' - President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a national address on Thursday his country would not be "intimidated" by the United States. "We are witnessing the rise of nationalism, protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests and the decline of common cause," Ramaphosa said. Trump made a blanket claim that the South African land law would allow the government to seize Afrikaners' property "without compensation". The law, which came into force in January, clarifies the legal framework for expropriations. Most legal experts stress it does not add new content. It allows the government, as a matter of public interest, to decide on expropriations without compensation -- but only in certain exceptional circumstances where it would be "just and equitable". For several days, South Africans of all racial origins have taken to social media to mock the US stance. "Should we now call them Amerikaners?" quipped one person on Saturday. "Should we expect wine estates or safari reserves to be evacuated?" joked another. Most estates and private reserves in the country belong to white families. On Saturday, Afriforum, a small organisation dedicated to "protecting and promoting the Afrikaner identity", expressed its "great appreciation" to Trump, while stressing that white South Africans' place was in their home country. White South Africans make up around seven percent of the population, according to date from 2022. Afrikaners make up a proportion of that group. Trump's ally Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa under apartheid, has accused Ramaphosa's government of having "openly racist ownership laws". ger/gil/jhb
