(Source : AP) In a surprising move, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order cutting all U.S. aid and financial assistance to South Africa, citing alleged “rights violations” against the country’s white minority. The order, announced Friday, also offered refugee status and resettlement in the United States to white Afrikaners, a group descended from Dutch, French, and German settlers. But on Saturday, prominent Afrikaner organizations responded with a resounding “thanks, but no thanks.”
Trump’s Controversial Plan
The Trump administration accused the South African government of allowing violent attacks on white farmers and implementing a land expropriation law that enables the seizure of white-owned agricultural property without compensation. “The situation in South Africa is unacceptable,” Trump said in a statement. “We cannot stand by while the rights of ethnic minorities are violated.”
However, the South African government has vehemently denied these claims, calling them “full of misinformation and distortions.” Officials argue that the land reform laws are aimed at addressing historical injustices stemming from colonialism and apartheid, not targeting white citizens.
Afrikaners, who make up a significant portion of South Africa’s white minority (approximately 7% of the population), have rejected Trump’s offer of resettlement. At a press conference on Saturday, leaders from two prominent Afrikaner organizations made their stance clear.
“Our members work here, and want to stay here, and they are going to stay here,” said Dirk Hermann, CEO of the Afrikaner trade union Solidarity, which represents around 2 million people. “We are committed to building a future here. We are not going anywhere.”
Kallie Kriel, CEO of the Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum, echoed this sentiment. “We have to state categorically: We don’t want to move elsewhere,” he said.
A Privileged Minority?
The portrayal of Afrikaners as a persecuted group has sparked debate both in South Africa and internationally. While some white South Africans feel targeted by land reform and affirmative action policies, statistics paint a different picture. Whites, who own around 70% of the country’s private farmland, generally enjoy a much higher standard of living than the Black majority. A 2021 study by the South Africa Human Rights Commission found that only 1% of whites live in poverty, compared to 64% of Blacks.
South Africa’s Foreign Ministry criticized Trump’s executive order, calling it “ironic” that it offers refugee status to a group that remains among the most economically privileged in the country. The ministry also pointed to the Trump administration’s own immigration policies, noting that vulnerable people from other parts of the world are often deported or denied asylum despite facing “real hardship.”
The South African government argues that its land reform and affirmative action policies are necessary to address the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, which stripped Black South Africans of their land and rights for nearly half a century. “South Africa is a constitutional democracy. We value all South Africans, Black and white,” said a spokesperson for President Cyril Ramaphosa. “The assertion that Afrikaners face arbitrary deprivation and need to flee the country of their birth is devoid of all truth.”
Mixed Reactions from South Africans
Sithabile Ngidi, a market trader in Johannesburg, expressed skepticism about Trump’s claims. “He should have actually come from America to South Africa to try and see what was happening for himself,” she said. “Not just take the word of an Elon Musk, who hasn’t lived in this country for the longest of time and doesn’t even relate to South Africans.”
Elon Musk, the South African-born billionaire and Trump adviser, has been a vocal critic of the South African government, accusing it of having an anti-white stance. His comments have fueled a narrative among some white South Africans that they are being unfairly targeted as payback for apartheid.
While Afrikaner groups like Solidarity and AfriForum oppose the land expropriation law and other policies they view as discriminatory, they remain committed to South Africa. “This government is allowing a certain section of the population to be targeted,” said Kriel, who nonetheless thanked Trump for raising awareness of Afrikaner concerns.
As the debate over land reform and racial equality continues, one thing is clear: South Africa’s white minority is not ready to leave the country they call home.
