Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel. Picture: Jacques Nelles
While US President Donald Trump has tasked his government with aiding ‘racially discriminated’ Afrikaans people and farmers, including resettling them in the US as refugees, civil rights organisation AfriForum says they will not be leaving SA.
Trump signed an executive order against South Africa on Friday, alleging human rights issues.
The White House said the order was in response to SA’s land policy that allows its government to “seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation” and SA’s genocide case against US ally Israel at the International Court of Justice.
It tasked the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to take appropriate steps “to prioritise humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Programme, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination”.
Speaking to The Citizen, AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said the organisation had noted Trump’s order but was committed to staying in South Africa.
“We have an appreciation for the fact that the US recognises the discrimination experienced by Afrikaners at the moment, but we do, however, see the future of Afrikaners in Africa.
“We were formed as a people in Africa and we can only survive as a cultural community on the southern top of Africa.
He said the price of leaving the country was “too high” and AfriForum would meet with the SA and US governments to find a solution to the country’s problems.
“We are here to stay. It might irritate the radical elements that hate us, but we are here to stay.”
It said this week that it would write an official letter to the US government requesting that any action against SA instead be directed at “senior ANC leaders directly and not South Africa’s residents”.
AfriForum and Solidarity held a press conference on Saturday to respond to the order more fully.
There, Solidarity chairperson Flip Buys denied that the movement had accused the government of race-based land grabs and was not calling for sanctions.
“We were not aware that Mr Trump would issue this order and believe that it is not in the interest of South Africa if there is a deterioration in relations with the US”.
Buys said Solidarity would head to the US later this month “to put the situation in South Africa in context”.
Buys said, it will tell the US government that South Africans should not be affected by diplomatic tensions between the countries.
“The solution is that international assistance to South Africa should continue while Afrikaaners assist practical support in our pursuit of cultural autonomy.
“We want to establish the conditions for Afrikaaners to stay in South Africa, to make a sustainable contribution to the country… we may not agree with the ANC, but we love the country”.
He reaffirmed that repatriation to the US was not a solution.
Kriel added that Ramaphosa and senior government leaders had warned Ramaphosa about signing the Expropriation Act.
“We tried to avert this, but if someone it to blame it is the president and some ANC leaders”.
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The order comes weeks after Trump ordered the suspension of all refugee admissions into the US and the reconfiguration of the admissions programme.
He claimed his country “lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees”.
“I, therefore, direct that entry into the United States of refugees under the US Refugee Admissions Program be suspended, subject to the exceptions set forth in subsection (c) of this section [Case-by-case basis]— until a finding is made in accordance with section 4 of this order [a report within 90 days on whether to allow refugees].
“This suspension shall take effect at 12:01 am Eastern Standard Time on January 27, 2025,” read that order dated 20 January.
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Last month, Trump froze key HIV/AIDS funding from the US to SA as part of his “America First” agenda.
He followed this up on earlier this week with a social media post slamming the Expropriation Act, claiming the government is “confiscating land and treating certain classes of people very badly”. The claims have been denied by SA President Cyril Ramaphosa and his ministers.
In the diplomatic storm that has followed, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pull out of an upcoming G20 summit in Johannesburg, claiming “anti-Americanism”.
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Ramaphosa recently signed the controversial Expropriation Act into law, which allows for the expropriation of land with nil compensation if it is in the public interest.
The DA challenged the Act, who claimed there were material and concerning inconsistencies in it and threatened legal action.
Amid Trump’s actions over the Act, the DA has clarified that it does not support it but “South African citizens should not be punished by the US for bad policy”.
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