South Africa has taken a hard line against the US, accusing that country of continuing to “grossly undermine and violate” its sovereignty.
This stems from the resettlement of a group of white Afrikaner “refugees”, a number of whom will be departing to the US today.
Pretoria appears to have taken exception to the use of the term “refugee” by the US to describe those who have taken up US President Donald Trump's offer to resettle in the US.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told the Sunday Times that the Trump administration's actions regarding South Africa’s domestic issues were unsettling.
“Disturbingly, one has to admit that our sovereignty as a country is being grossly undermined and violated by the US,” Magwenya said, adding that Ramaphosa was continuing to try to de-escalate diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
The Presidency was reacting to the Trump administration’s announcement that about 54 Afrikaners would be relocated to the US today and granted refugee status — a move that could lead to further strain in the already fractured relations.
This is the first time the South African government has taken a hard line against the Trump administration, having previously opted for a diplomatic approach.
Since Trump came into office, diplomatic tensions between Pretoria and Washington have heightened over what seems to be disagreement with South Africa’s continued push to prosecute Israel for genocide at the International Court of Justice.
The US embassy this week notified Pretoria in a diplomatic note that the first batch of members of the Afrikaner community would be leaving, making good on its offer of “refugee status” for those seeking to leave the country.
In the diplomatic note, dated May 6, the embassy said it would be chartering a flight — due to depart from OR Tambo International Airport today — as part of the plan to “resettle refugees from South Africa to the US”.
The South African government this week pushed back against the reasons attached to the relocation of the disgruntled Afrikaners, saying the use of the term “refugee” to describe them was politically motivated to further undermine the country’s sovereignty.
Even if there are allegations of discrimination, it is our view that these do not meet the threshold of persecution required under domestic and international refugee law.
— Chrispin Phiri, International relations spokesperson
This comes as Ramaphosa and Trump smoked a peace pipe two weeks ago, agreeing to meet to resolve tensions.
Magwenya said there were specific things required to determine whether a person could be classified a refugee. He said South Africans who had taken up the offer of Trump’s administration to relocate to the US did not meet these requirements.
The determination of refugee status requires a factual assessment in light of the prevailing circumstances, having due regard for both subjective and objective factors, he said.
“However, we have submitted that allegations of discrimination are unfounded and that there are sufficient structures available within South Africa to address concerns of discrimination.”
Magwenya said if there were allegations of discrimination, these did not meet the threshold of persecution required under domestic and international refugee law. “Therefore, there are no South African citizens that can be classified as refugees destined for any country in the world, including the US.”
International relations spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol defined a refugee as someone with a “well-founded fear of persecution” based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
Phiri said Pretoria insisted that allegations the government was discriminating against the white Afrikaner community were unfounded.
“The South African Police Service statistics on farm-related crimes do not support allegations of violent crime targeted at farmers generally, or any particular race. There are sufficient structures available within South Africa to address concerns of discrimination,” he said.
“Moreover, even if there are allegations of discrimination, it is our view that these do not meet the threshold of persecution required under domestic and international refugee law.”
According to Phiri, the US’s actions were politically motivated to undermine South Africa. “It is most regrettable that it appears that the resettlement of South Africans to the US under the guise of being ‘refugees’ is entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy.”
South Africa was a country that had suffered true persecution under apartheid — and had worked tirelessly to prevent such levels of discrimination from ever occurring again, Phiri said,“including through the entrenchment of rights in our constitution, which is enforced vigorously through our judicial system”.
A senior government insider said: “It is equally undeniable that the Trump administration has persistently violated every prescript of established normal diplomatic relations and courtesy. South Africa has not been unique in this regard, as closer US allies have been dealt with in an equally discourteous manner.”
AfriForum’s Ernst van Zyl this week told the Sunday Times that while the organisation is aware that there is a process to resettle people to the US this week, it is not privy to the details.
AfriForum has been accused of communicating misinformation to the Trump administration about South Africa.
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