Anti-African: In Donald Trump’s America, 32 out of Africa’s 53 countries already face a US travel ban, or a threat of one. Photo: Supplied
President Donald Trump’s administration has expanded eligibility under the United States Refugee Admissions Programme (USRAP) to include South Africans from racial minority groups, citing what it described as “unjust racial discrimination” in the country.
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”.
The announcement was posted on the website of the US mission on Monday, the day 49 Afrikaners were flown to America as part of Trump’s executive order addressing “egregious actions of the Republic of South Africa”.
According to US officials, the policy is based on concerns over racial persecution, including incidents of violence on farms, race-based legislation which the South African government says is designed to address historical inequality, and the country’s Expropriation Act, which allows for land expropriation without compensation under specific conditions.
The latter has been legally challenged by the Democratic Alliance (DA), the minority partner in a coalition government with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC.
In the executive order, Trump said the Expropriation Act enabled the South African government “to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation. This Act follows countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business, and hateful rhetoric and government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners”.
At the time of the announcement in February, the South African government responded by saying that the US administration’s assessment contained factual inaccuracies and did not acknowledge the country’s legacy of apartheid and efforts to address systemic inequality.
Since then Pretoria, and the ANC in particular, have taken a more defiant tone, saying the country refuses to be “bullied” by Trump and his administration, and accusing it of being “anti-transformation”.
On Tuesday, News24 reported Ramaphosa as saying that the Afrikaners who had “fled” to the United States — some of them allegedly survivors of farm attacks or multiple farm attacks — were “cowardly”.
“We must stay here and solve our problems. So, when you run away you’re a coward and that’s a real cowardly act, and I expect every South African to stay here, and we work together, and we solve our problems,” Ramaphosa said at an agricultural expo. He added that those who had left would return.
At a general press briefing on Monday, Trump said he would meet Ramaphosa next week, adding that there was a “genocide” of Afrikaner farmers taking place.
“Farmers are being killed. They happen to be white. [W]hether they’re white or black makes no difference to me. But white farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa.”
On Monday, Ramaphosa told the Africa CEO forum in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the white South Africans who have taken up Trump’s offer of refuge in the US are a “fringe group” that have not been persecuted as claimed, but are opposed to South Africa’s post-apartheid transformation process.
Ramaphosa said he had had a phone conversation with Trump “and in passing I said, what is happening down there? What you are being told by those people who are opposed to transformation at home in South Africa is not true.”
While farm killings in South Africa have drawn international attention, multiple studies and crime statistics indicate that such attacks are part of the country’s broader pattern of violent crime rather than racially motivated targeting.
Research by independent crime analysts has found that both black and white farmers, as well as farm workers, have been victims of attacks. The motivations are typically linked to robbery or other opportunistic crimes rather than racial animus.
According to the Institute for Security Studies, there is no empirical evidence to support the claim that white farmers are disproportionately targeted for political or racial reasons.
Instead, rural areas are often more vulnerable to crime due to slower police response times, isolation, and limited access to security infrastructure.
Those seeking resettlement are required to submit a formal statement of interest using an online form, even if they previously contacted the US government.
That form makes provision for “Fear of future harm based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group should you remain in or return to South Africa”, among other claims.
Officials warned that because of the anticipated demand, responses could be delayed.
The US state department said that participation in the programme is free and that applicants should be cautious of fraudulent actors offering expedited services for payment.
“Only communications from official US government personnel or designated partners should be trusted,” the department said, adding that translation services would be provided during the application process.
Applicants were also urged not to share personal identity documents with unverified individuals and to report suspected fraud through a government-managed reporting link.
The US has not provided data on how many applicants may ultimately be approved for resettlement under the new guidelines.