The South African government has sharply criticised the resettlement of Afrikaners to the United States under the guise of being “refugees” as an entirely politically motivated move, designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy.
This comes as the first group of 49 Afrikaners boarded a chartered plane from the US at OR Tambo Airport on Sunday night.
They could be seen patiently standing in a queue to be checked in, but did not want to field questions from the media.
The US government is set to formally mark the arrival of the group in Washington.
It’s part of US President Donald Trump’s controversial “Mission South Africa” programme to grant refugee status to white Afrikaners in the hope of resettling them in America.
The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Alvin Botes, confirmed on Friday that he held a ‘cordial discussion’ with the United States Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, on the matter.
In a statement, Botes made it clear that the allegations of Afrikaners being ‘persecuted’ and discriminated against in South Africa are completely unfounded.
“The South African Police Services statistics on farm-related crimes do not support allegations of violent crime targeted at farmers generally or any particular race. There are sufficient structures available within South Africa to address concerns of discrimination. Moreover, even if there are allegations of discrimination, it is our view that these do not meet the threshold of persecution required under domestic and international refugee law.”
But he says while South Africa challenges the United States’ assessments of alleged refugee status, it will not block citizens who seek to depart the country from doing so, as it also observes their right of freedom of movement and freedom of choice, specifically the right to leave the country, as contained in section 21(2) of the Constitution.
The matter has sparked lots of debate on social media, with South Africans divided on the matter. Many people have lamented that the country will see an exodus of farmers, but AgriSA says there is no indication that any farmers are leaving South Africa.
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The GOOD Party’s Brett Herron has labelled the group as ‘fake refugees’, calling on the government to impose a special wealth tax on the proceeds of land sales that leave South African shores under these circumstances.
“It feels repulsive that a group of relatively privileged South Africans, who falsely claim that they are being systematically stripped of their land and lives, should be entitled to monetise their wealth – often accrued due to discriminatory colonial and apartheid policies – and ride off into the sunset.”
