Africa-Press – South-Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa has criticised the group of Afrikaners who fled to the US, claiming they face persecution in SA.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February to provide refugee status to white Afrikaners, accusing the South African government of confiscating land and treating certain classes of people badly.
Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Ramaphosa said the Afrikaners who have fled to the US are not experiencing persecution but are instead leaving because they don’t want to accept the changes taking place in the country.
“Those who have fled are not being persecuted, they’re not being hounded, they are not treated badly. They are leaving because they don’t want to embrace the changes that are taking place in our country and our constitution,” he said.
He emphasised the individuals do not fit the definition of refugees, saying a refugee is someone who is typically forced to flee their home country due to fear of persecution.
Ramaphosa revealed he had a conversation with Trump over the phone about the issue.
“I said ‘what you have been told by those who are opposed to transformation in SA is not true’,” Ramaphosa said.
He said he explained to Trump that SA is committed to building a united nation and the Afrikaner group that fled does not represent most Afrikaners in the country.
“We were well taught by Nelson Mandela and other iconic leaders such as Oliver Tambo on how to continue to build a united nation out of the diverse groupings we have in SA. We are the only country on the continent where the colonisers came to stay, and we have never driven them out of our country.
“They are staying and they’re making great progress. It’s a fringe grouping that does not have a lot of support, that is anti-transformation and anti-change and that would prefer to see SA going back to apartheid type of policies. I said to him I would never do that.”
International relations and co-operation minister Ronald Lamola has also weighed in on the issue, saying the Afrikaner group that went to the US does not qualify for refugee status.
“There is no data at all that backs that there is a persecution of white South Africans or white Afrikaners, [or] to be more particular, [those] who are farmers. In fact, more farm dwellers are also affected by crime, and white farmers do get affected by crime, just like any other South African who gets affected by crime,” he said.
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