Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi. (File photo)
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said of the departure of 49 Afrikaners to the United States on Monday that South Africa has rid itself of “untransformed human beings”.
Speaking in an interview with the Mail & Guardian on Tuesday, Lesufi said the country was better off without the group, which had been offered refugee status in the US.
“Anyone who is racist irritates me, racists are mindless, useless. They are selfish and feel that the best must be reserved for themselves.
“The 49 have defined themselves from what we stand for and I’m glad that the number is that low. It’s an affirmation that the majority of South Africans agree that this country is beautiful and has possibilities for each to grow,” Lesufi said.
The Afrikaners were flown to the US as part of Donald Trump’s executive order addressing “egregious actions of the Republic of South Africa”.
The Trump administration has said it is offering refugee status to white Afrikaners because they are being “persecuted” by the South African government through the Expropriation Act and race-based policies, and that there is a “genocide” being committed against white farmers.
The South African government has denied the claims, saying the policies are a way of correcting the consequences of the country’s apartheid past, and that the Expropriation Act is in line with the Constitution.
Safety and security experts in South Africa agree that there is no genocide being perpetrated against white farmers, who face the same levels of excessive criminality that all citizens do.
On Monday, Trump’s administration expanded eligibility under the United States Refugee Admissions Programme (USRAP) to include South Africans from racial minority groups.
To qualify for USRAP, applicants “must be South African nationals, identify as Afrikaners or members of a racial minority, and be able to demonstrate either a history of persecution or a credible fear of future persecution”.
After the departure of the 49 on Monday, the chief executive of Afrikaner rights group AfriForum, Kallie Kriel, posted on X that their leaving was a serious indictment against the ANC-led government, which continues to refuse to condemn calls for violence against Afrikaners, such as the song Kill the Boer.
Kriel said the refugee status afforded to the Afrikaners was the direct result of the government’s targeting of them and other minority groups through discriminatory racial legislation and race-based regulations.
He wrote that the Expropriation Act, which makes expropriation without compensation possible, also places Afrikaners and other property owners directly in the government’s crosshairs.
“AfriForum is determined, together with our colleagues in the Solidarity Movement, to continue our efforts to help build a future for Afrikaners here at the southern tip of Africa.
“AfriForum and our allies will also intensify our efforts to use every possible pressure mechanism at our disposal, including international pressure, to bring about a change of direction in the country to the benefit of all, including Afrikaners.
“AfriForum respects the personal decision of those refugees who, given their specific circumstances, have chosen to leave the country.”
In his interview with the M&G, Lesufi said AfriForum was an anti-transformation organisation that used race as a scaremongering tactic to raise funds.
In 2023, AfriForum obtained an order in Johannesburg high court to retract his claims that the organisation attempted to assassinate him and stalked his children.
“I’m glad that people are seeing them for who they are, I’ve been saying that for ages. We all know that there’s no open campaign to assassinate a certain race,” he said.
Referring to the Trump administration’s decision to cut aid to dozens of countries, including South Africa, he said: “If you check the NGOs that have lost funding from the US, check the number of people that have lost their jobs, it pains me and it is based on disinformation, nothing else.”
Lesufi has been a strong advocate for small Afrikaner-only settlements such as Orania and Kleinfontein to be done away with.
“I hope that this can also send a very strong message for those that think one province can be a country on its own or those that feel that one area called Orania is a better place for some,” he said.
“This is South Africa, it’s one country, one flag, we can’t have people doubling up having their own things, having their own flag, own currency and thinking that their area is a no go area and it’s them alone that can stay in that area, that nonsense must come to an end.”
On Kleinfontein, which is near Pretoria, Lesufi said there would not be a no-go area in the province on his watch.
He said he had spoken to Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya about Kleinfontein, and they would deal with it within the ambit of the law.