In South Africa’s capital Pretoria, a group of white Afrikaners gathered outside the US embassy on a rainy Saturday, calling on President Trump and Elon Musk to help them fight against the ANC government’s takeover. They thanked Trump for signing an executive order offering asylum to white Afrikaners and cutting aid to South Africa. The US decision was made in response to South Africa allowing land expropriation and a genocide case against Israel at the ICJ. The Afrikaner community, descendants of Dutch settlers who implemented apartheid in 1948, still face economic disparities despite the end of apartheid in 1994. While some white South Africans feel threatened and seek refuge in the US, many acknowledge their privilege in a democratic South Africa and have no plans to leave. Younger Afrikaners mock the asylum offer on social media, highlighting the privileges they enjoy. AfriForum, a right-wing pressure group, has lobbied in the US for years, claiming white persecution in South Africa. Trump’s unfounded claims of white South Africans under siege have amplified AfriForum’s message, despite statistics showing farm murders are a small percentage of the country’s total murder rate.
