US President Donald Trump has invited Afrikaner farmers to leave South Africa and resettle in the United States of America.
In SA terms, this could be seen as setting up the United States as a Bantustan for Afrikaners. The concept of a Bantustan was coined by the apartheid government which set aside territories for different ethnic groups in South Africa.
The order signed on Friday suggested the South African government was committing human rights violations – against Afrikaaners – by “confiscating land” and treating “certain classes of people very badly”.
Trump’s executive order immediately grants Afrikaaners refugee status in the US.
“The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take appropriate steps, consistent with law, to prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.”
Earlier this week, Elon Musk, the South African born billionaire who is now Trump’s right hand man, endorsed a post on X promoting the immigration of white South Africans.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has tried to engage with Musk and the Trump administration to point out that they are misinformed.
“The South African government has not confiscated any land.”
“South Africa, like the United States of America and other countries, has always had expropriation laws that balance the need for public usage of land and the protection of rights of property owners.”
One of the reasons Trump is giving for targeting South Africa is its stance against Israel which it accused of genocide in the International Court of Justice.
“South Africa accused Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice,” the executive order says.
Picture caption: US president Donald Trump
Source: X
