Afrikaners

A group of Afrikaners, white South Africans who are recognised as refugees by the Trump administration, arrived at the Dulles airport in Washington on May 12.

Afrikaners are white South African citizens who have descended from predominantly Dutch colonists who had first arrived in the mid-17th century. They speak a language called Afrikaans.

The US President objected to the South African land expropriation law, passed on January 24, allowing the state to seize land without compensation for public purposes or in the public interest in certain circumstances. So far, no land has been seized under this measure.

The allegations of a “genocide” and ill-treatment of Afrikaners have long been relayed by a fringe of conservative Afrikaners.

Elon Musk, a white South African by birth (but not an Afrikaner) and Trump’s ally, has repeated these claims, accusing the SA government of having ‘racist’ land ownership laws.