Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s offer to resettle white South Africans as refugees has met with a lukewarm response, as even right-wing Afrikaner groups say they prefer to remain in the country and address grievances from within.
On Friday, Trump signed an executive order cutting U.S. aid to South Africa, citing a land expropriation law signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa last month. The law aims to redress historical land ownership disparities by making it easier for the state to reclaim land in the public interest.
Trump’s order also paves the way for resettling “Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination” in the United States. Afrikaners, mostly descendants of Dutch and French settlers, own a significant share of the country’s farmland.
But despite Trump’s framing of the policy as an urgent humanitarian issue, the reaction from white South Africans has been muted.
“If you haven’t got any problems here, why would you want to go?” said Neville van der Merwe, a 78-year-old pensioner in the Cape Town suburb of Bothasig. “There hasn’t been any real land grab. People are carrying on as normal.”
A Divisive Land Debate
The issue of land ownership remains one of the most contentious in South Africa. While white South Africans make up only 7.2% of the country’s 63 million people, they still own the majority of privately held farmland.
During apartheid, land policies forcibly displaced millions of Black South Africans while reserving the most fertile land for white ownership. Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) argues the current law is necessary to correct those historical injustices.
Trump, however, has echoed concerns raised by AfriForum, an Afrikaner advocacy group that has previously lobbied his administration. But even AfriForum declined to endorse the resettlement plan.
“Emigration only offers an opportunity for Afrikaners who are willing to risk potentially sacrificing their descendants’ cultural identity,” AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said. “The price for that is simply too high.”
‘We Love Our Country’
The Solidarity Movement, a broader coalition that includes AfriForum and the trade union Solidarity, also dismissed Trump’s offer, saying it represents 600,000 Afrikaner families and nearly 2 million individuals committed to staying in South Africa.
“We may disagree with the ANC, but we love our country,” the group said in a statement. “Repatriation of Afrikaners as refugees is not a solution for us.”
Orania, a whites-only Afrikaner enclave in South Africa’s Northern Cape, echoed that sentiment.
“Afrikaners do not want to be refugees. We love and are committed to our homeland,” Orania’s leadership said.
Mixed Reactions
While most rejected the idea of relocation, some saw it as a generous gesture.
“I think it’s a very nice offer from Donald Trump,” said Werner van Niekerk, a 57-year-old carpenter, though he did not say whether he planned to accept it.
Others met the proposal with humor.
“Some questions: is there a test to determine your Afrikanership? Must you hold AfriForum membership? Will Elon help with startup cash on the other side? Are there bakkies (pickup trucks) in the U.S.?” journalist Pieter du Toit quipped on X, referencing South African-born billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk.
Despite Trump’s assertions, there is no evidence of widespread land seizures or racial persecution against white South Africans. Ramaphosa’s government has dismissed his intervention as political posturing, while critics argue that Trump’s rhetoric plays into far-right narratives.
