For decades, some members of the white African minority have been trying to convince anyone who has heard they are true victims of post-apartheid South Africa.
They advocate mass murder of their people and grabbing the broad land by black-led governments, and they claim they are seeking retaliation for the crimes of the African-led apartheid government. Their stories are false or much exaggerated, but that doesn't stop them from being widely amplified and repeated online.
Africans, an ethnic group derived from Europe, are primarily Dutch colonists, who found the champion of their cause in President Trump.
Trump on Friday puts the weight of American influence behind enthusiastic, contested claims that Africans are “victims of unjust racism” and that they will migrate to the United States as refugees. They issued an executive order to allow it and stop aid to South Africa.
The move has been a disappointment in South Africa, a majority black nation that comes from racial groups persecuted by the apartheid regime, where more than 90% of the population is racist. These groups – black, colour, Indians – are statistically far behind the White minority on almost every economic measure.
There was the horrifying murder of white farmers, the focus of Africa's dissatisfaction, but police statistics suggest that they explain the very small share of the country's killings.
It is not clear whether Trump's interest in South Africa is influenced by Elon Musk, one of his close advisers who is now born and raised and is sternly critical of the government.
For Africans, who make up about 4% of the population, Trump's actions were the culmination of years of international lobbying.
“What happened last night was probably the most important international action” in South Africa in 1994, said Ernst Roetz, executive director of the advocacy group, Africanner Foundation, on Saturday when the apartheid regime lost power. said in.
Loetz has traveled several times to Washington over the years to meet lawmakers and think tanks, and there will be another long-term trip in two weeks, he said. His organization had not met with officials from the second Trump administration and was not directly involved in the executive order, he said. But they're talking to people on Trump's orbit, he said, raising international awareness of their cause.
“We did some wrong things, but all the communities did some wrong things,” Loetz said of Africans. “We had the feeling that we're becoming a scapegoat, and we blamed everything. The fact that we're aware of it now is something that many people think would welcome.”
Washington's South African ambassador, Ebrahim Lasor, said South African government officials were somewhat blind to Trump's orders.
Trump began publicly focusing on South Africa last Sunday, recording social media posts and comments to reporters, suggesting that the country's government is seizing white land.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a law last month that would allow the government to take private land under limited circumstances without compensating its owners. However, legal scholars say such attacks are subject to judicial scrutiny, and in most cases the government compensates owners for land acquired for public purposes.
Law proponents say it is partly necessary to correct the imbalances created by the history of white people that control most lands, but black ownership is mandatory and restricted by law. It was being done.
After Trump made a comment, Musk asked Ramaphosa in a post on X: “Why are there openly racist ownership laws?”
“We have never witnessed such an escalation of diplomatic tensions,” said Ramaphosa's spokesman Vincent Magwenia, who said the issue raised by Trump was “a complete escalation of our country.” It was covered in lies and distortions.”
Ramaphosa spoke with Musk last week and said “he says there are no racist laws,” Magwenia said. But Musk continues to argue that white South Africans are being persecuted.
Kallie Kriel, chief executive of Afriforum, Afrikaner's rights group, said South Africa's own actions alienated American leaders.
He dismissed the claim that white South Africans were victims of widespread murders. He cited several laws that said target Africans. One law allows the government to more control over the language of instruction in schools. This may vary from location to location, and some Africans believe that it will limit African use in classrooms.
“It's a direct threat to our cultural presence,” Kriel said.
Melanie Verward, former Ambassador to Ireland in South Africa, said that the history of people who have benefited from the land their ancestors have taken from black people since the 17th century focused on African rights. She said she speaks “as a white person and as an African,” adding that it is “decisively” wrong in South Africa that white people are being persecuted.
“The majority of poor people in this country remain black,” Verwoerd said. “If any group is being treated badly, or if there is a human rights violation of speaking, it's actually black, not white.”
Ramaphosa met with Musk twice last year to discuss his business, particularly bringing Starlink satellite communications systems to South Africa. At these meetings, Musk did not express any concern about white people being abused in South Africa, Magwenia said.
Instead, Musk's main concern was South Africa's requirement that foreign companies hand over some ownership to Black South Africa or other historically disadvantaged groups, Magwenia said. Musk told the president he was worried that he would set a bad precedent for other markets that run Starlink, Magwenia said.
Musk is primarily a descent in English, not Africans. Tensions are widespread between white English-speaking South Africans and Africans. He is often stereotyped in a more blue colour and less refined.
Africans tend to have a more harsh view of the country than the population as a whole. A 2023 survey by the Human Sciences Research Council found that 79% of Africans are dissatisfied with the country's democracy, while 47% are in a higher proportion of groups than other groups. I did.
The white population of around 4.5 million has now been steadily decreasing over decades. There has been net migration of 700,000 white people since 1985, according to the South African Statistics Bureau, the official government office of Statistics Bureau. However, at least so far, there has been no indication that Africans tend to migrate to the United States in large numbers.
Loetz and the Afriforum leader said they wanted to stay in South Africa to improve it. They said they plan to ask the Trump administration to invest in organizations that support African communities, rather than cutting all funds to South Africa.
Among the main complaints of Africans is that they face violence on farms and discriminate against them with policies that seek to prioritize black South Africans in areas such as business and land ownership. is. However, proponents of race-based policies argue that race-conscious rules are even necessary for scales as apartheid uses race to oppress and poverty the black population.
“It's not completely lacking all the truth,” said Albert Grandling, an African professor emeritus at Stellenbosch University and an African professor of history, about African concerns. “As a group, it's an exaggeration to say that they're now oppressed and have no prospects at all.”
Benny Van Jill, general manager of the South African Transvaal Agricultural Union, said his fellow Africans hope that black farmers will succeed.
“But the government makes the land issue a racial issue,” he said. “For us, this is not about race, it's about success.”
The report was contributed by Jeffrey Moyo from Harare, Zimbabwe.
