White South Africans Spurn Trump’s Offer To Take Them In As Refugees

U.S. President Donald Trump’s offer to rehouse white South Africans as refugees fleeing persecution may not spur quite the rush he anticipates, as even right-wing white lobby groups prefer to “tackle the injustices” of Black majority rule on home soil, Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Catherine Schenck reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The ruling African National Congress (ANC), the largest party in South Africa’s governing coalition, claims Trump is amplifying misinformation spread by AfriForum, an Afrikaner-led group. AfriForum rejected Trump’s plan. I Photo: African National Congress

White people make up 7.2% of South Africa’s population of 63 million, according to data from the national statistics agency.

The data does not specify how many are Afrikaners. Under British rule, most farmland was handed to white South Africans. In 1950, the apartheid-era National Party seized 85% of the land, forcibly removing 3.5 million Black people from their homes.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC), the largest party in South Africa’s governing coalition, claims Trump is amplifying misinformation spread by AfriForum, an Afrikaner-led group. AfriForum rejected Trump’s plan, emphasizing their commitment to South Africa.

“Emigration only offers an opportunity for Afrikaners who are willing to risk potentially sacrificing their descendants' cultural identity as Afrikaners. The price for that is simply too high,” AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said.

The Solidarity Movement—which includes AfriForum and the Solidarity trade union, representing about 600,000 Afrikaner families and 2 million individuals—also rejected Trump’s proposal.

“We may disagree with the ANC, but we love our country. As in any community, there are individuals who wish to emigrate, but repatriation of Afrikaners as refugees is not a solution for us,” the movement said.

Orania, an Afrikaner-only enclave in the heart of South Africa, echoed these sentiments. “Afrikaners do not want to be refugees. We love and are committed to our homeland,” Orania said, as reported by Nqobile Dludla and Shafiek Tassiem for AP.