TENSIONS between White South Africans and the South African government have escalated amid recent land reforms, prompting the first group of white citizens to be granted refugee status under a programme initiated by US President Donald Trump.
On Sunday, the first 49 white South Africans boarded a US-funded charter flight from Johannesburg, bound for Dulles Airport near Washington, before continuing their journey to Texas. The flight marked a significant move under the refugee programme, which has been supported by Trump and his advisor, Elon Musk, who has South African roots.
Reports from Johannesburg noted a long queue of white South Africans at the airport, eagerly awaiting to have their passports stamped before entering the departure lounge.
South African Transport Ministry spokesperson, Collen Msibi, confirmed that the plane was carrying the first group of Afrikaners – a white ethnic minority group whose ancestors were primarily of German, Dutch, and French descent.
“The application for the permit to land said it’s the Afrikaners who are relocating to the USA as refugees,” Msibi said. He added that the plane was destined for Dulles Airport before continuing its journey to Texas.
Reports from the United States also confirmed that 12 states had agreed to accommodate the Afrikaners, some of whom have family in the US.
Trump, along with Musk, has been vocal about what they claim is the persecution of white South Africans by the country’s black majority. White South Africans make up roughly 7 per cent of the population but own approximately 78 per cent of the private farmland, contributing to significant wealth inequality.
Trump signed an executive order in February, offering resettlement to “Afrikaner refugees” who face “government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.”
The programme comes amid a backdrop of controversy over land reforms in South Africa, which have seen the government increasingly take action to redistribute land to black South Africans, a policy seen by many as racial reparation.
