Washington, D.C. & Pretoria, South Africa — U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent offer to resettle white South Africans as refugees has been met with skepticism, even among Afrikaner advocacy groups who prefer to address land reform challenges domestically.
The proposal, which follows Trump’s executive order cutting U.S. aid to South Africa, was signed last Friday in response to a new land expropriation law enacted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The law aims to redistribute land to historically dispossessed Black South Africans, addressing long-standing inequalities.
Aspart of the order, provisions were made to grant refugee status to Afrikaners who were descendants of Dutch and French settlers, but the response from the white South African community has been largely indifferent.
Rueters reports that many, including elderly Afrikaner Neville van der Merwe, see no reason to relocate. “If you haven’t got any problems here, why would you want to go?” he questioned from his home near Cape Town.
The Land Reform Debate
At the heart of the controversy is South Africa’s deeply unequal land ownership structure, a remnant of colonial rule and apartheid policies. Despite making up just 7.2% of the population, white South Africans still own approximately 75% of private land.
The Ramaphosa administration has defended the land expropriation law as a necessary step toward economic justice. However, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has accused Trump of spreading misinformation fueled by AfriForum, an Afrikaner lobby group that has long opposed land reform efforts.
The policy draws from South Africa’s history, where colonial authorities and the apartheid-era National Party forcibly seized land, displacing millions of Black South Africans. For the government, the current reforms represent an effort to rectify those historical injustices.
Rejection from Afrikaner Groups
While some right-wing figures in the U.S. have championed Trump’s initiative, major Afrikaner organizations have firmly rejected it.
AfriForum, which had previously engaged with Trump’s administration on land rights issues, dismissed the offer. CEO Kallie Kriel stated:
“Emigration would come at the cost of Afrikaners’ cultural identity. That price is simply too high.”
The Solidarity Movement, which claims to represent 600,000 Afrikaner families and 2 million individuals, also declined the offer, insisting on resolving land reform challenges within South Africa.
Even Orania, an Afrikaner-only town established as a self-sufficient enclave in the country’s interior, rejected Trump’s resettlement plan.
Despite more than 30 years since the official end of apartheid in 1994, white South Africans continue to enjoy higher living standards compared to their Black counterparts, a factor that further reduces the incentive to emigrate.
The controversy highlights the complex tensions surrounding land reform in South Africa and the broader debate over race, historical justice, and economic equity. While Trump’s offer has been met with resistance, the issue of land redistribution remains a critical and unresolved challenge for South Africa’s future.
By Taiwo Olatinwo| February 9, 2025
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