'We have not, or will not, call for sanctions against South Africa or that funds for vulnerable people be cut off by the US government,' say Afrikaner community leaders
South Africa's Afrikaner community Saturday turned down an offer by US President Donald Trump to resettle them as refugees in the US, following claims of racial discrimination.
“We don't want to move elsewhere, and we are not going to ask our children now to move to another country. We have interests of future generations and to make sure our culture is passed down to future generations; that cannot be done abroad,” Kallie Kriel, CEO of Afriforum, a group that promotes the interests of Afrikaans speakers, said at a media briefing in the capital, Pretoria.
Kriel said Afrikaners, who are descendants of European settlers, see a future in Africa. "We are not European. We are indigenous to this country and are going nowhere," he told a joint media briefing with the trade union Solidarity Movement.
Their briefing comes after US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Friday freezing Washington's aid to Pretoria, citing the country's recently passed land appropriation law and its genocide case against Israel.
The order also included a provision to help Afrikaners, a South African ethnic group made up of descendants of Dutch settlers and other Europeans, resettle in the US as refugees fleeing alleged government-sponsored race-based discrimination.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a bill into law last month that allows the state to expropriate land without compensation if it is “just, equitable, and in the public interest.” The law aims to address apartheid's past injustices, Ramaphosa said.
Pretoria has said it has only received US aid for HIV/AIDS prevention in the country.
- Afrikaners committed to finding solutions locally
Kriel praised Trump and the US government for recognizing and identifying the discrimination that Afrikaners face in South Africa through racial legislation and property rights.
He, however, added, “We are committed to finding solutions locally. Afrikaners want recognition as a group, not privilege in their country of birth,” he said.
Solidarity Movement Chairman Flip Buys, for his part, said Afrikaners are connected to South Africa and the continent.
"We disagree with the African National Congress (ANC),” he said, referring to the ruling party led by President Ramaphosa. “But we love our country,” he remarked.
“Repatriating Afrikaners as refugees is not an option for us," he said.
He said Afrikaners want to build a future in South Africa and will establish and strive for minimum living standards.
“If the international community helps us to create an environment in which Afrikaners can sustainably stay in South Africa, we can make a lasting contribution to the well-being of the country and all its people,” he said.
Buys also said they are not involved in the push for sanctions against South Africa. “We have not, or will not, call for sanctions against South Africa or that funds for vulnerable people be cut off by the US government,” he added.
He said he would request a meeting with Ramaphosa and travel to the US to talk with White House representatives.
Land is a sensitive issue in South Africa, where the majority of natural resources are concentrated in the hands of a few white people. During apartheid, racist policies forced Black and nonwhite people to leave their homes.
Even after apartheid ended, white people, particularly Afrikaners, continued to own the vast majority of the country's commercial farms, which produce the majority of food.
- ICJ case
Trump's executive order also cites South Africa's involvement in bringing Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and Pretoria's closer ties with Iran as reasons for cutting aid.
“The United States cannot support the government of South Africa's commission of rights violations in its country or its ‘undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests,” it said.
Notably, South Africa was the first to take Israel to the International Court of Justice over its genocidal war on Gaza, which ended last month due to an ongoing ceasefire between Tel Aviv and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
More than 47,600 people have been killed in Gaza due to Israeli bombardment since Oct. 7, 2023.
South Africa on Saturday expressed concern over US “propaganda” and "misinformation" after Trump froze Washington's aid to the country.
“We are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation. It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favor among decision-makers in the United States of America,” South Africa's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The statement further said, “It is ironic that the executive order (of Trump) 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 ministry added.
Since Trump took office last month, Washington has flown out hundreds of undocumented migrants from the country while strengthening border areas to disallow anyone from entering the US illegally.
South Africa reiterated that it remains committed to finding diplomatic solutions to any misunderstandings or disputes but expressed concern over the foundational premise of the US order, saying it “lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognize South Africa's profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid.”
