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Trump’s Afrikaner Refugee Plan: Amerikaners Group Drawn Into US Resettlement Drive
The United States government has turned to a South African group known as Amerikaners to help expand Donald Trump’s Afrikaner refugee initiative. The programme, introduced through an executive order by Trump, is framed around offering resettlement in the US to South Africans who can prove they have suffered racial persecution.
How the programme works
According to the US Embassy in Pretoria, the Refugee Admissions Program for South Africans is free of charge and open to people of Afrikaner ethnicity as well as other racial minorities who claim discrimination. Applicants must be South African citizens, at least 18 years old or accompanied by a parent, and able to show that they have faced persecution or fear future threats.
Two partner organisations are currently facilitating applications: RSC Africa, operated by Church World Service, and Amerikaners, which advocates for self-described “refugees.” Both groups operate independently of the South African government. Amerikaners’ founder, Sam Busa, has declined to comment on the latest development.
In May this year, the first group of more than 40 Afrikaners boarded a flight from OR Tambo International Airport to the US, their travel paid for by Washington.
Local backlash and political debate
The programme has sparked fierce debate in South Africa. Critics argue that it feeds into discredited narratives of “white genocide” and could fuel separatist agendas. Political analyst Siyabonga Ntombela from the University of KwaZulu-Natal dismissed the claims underpinning the refugee drive. He pointed to the country’s new Government of National Unity, which includes both white-led and Black-led parties, as evidence that a racial purge is not taking place. He also noted that white foreigners continue to purchase property in South Africa, which contradicts the idea of systematic targeting.
Ntombela suggested that the refugee story plays into attempts by some groups to revive the idea of an independent Cape state, a controversial and long-running political dream in parts of the Western Cape.
Not everyone agrees with this interpretation. Phil Craig, co-founder of the Cape Independence Advocacy Group, acknowledged that while the US programme does not directly advance secessionist goals, international recognition of minority concerns could indirectly strengthen the movement.
A programme steeped in symbolism
Beyond the technicalities, the programme has become a lightning rod for deeper cultural tensions. For some, it represents recognition of grievances often dismissed within South Africa. For others, it looks like a political manoeuvre by Trump to appeal to his US support base while meddling in South Africa’s domestic issues.
The inclusion of the Amerikaners group adds another layer to the story, showing how community actors are being drawn into a debate that extends far beyond immigration paperwork. At its core, this controversy reflects an ongoing struggle over identity, belonging, and the narratives shaping South Africa’s future.
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Source: IOL
Featured Image: Rolling Stone
