Afrikaners leaving SA for US aren't refugees

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President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Afrikaners who left South Africa for the United States (US) do not fit the description of a “refugee”.

The first batch of White Afrikaners left Johannesburg on a charter flight on Sunday, 11 May, and landed in the US on Monday, 12 May.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump boldly claimed that he cut aid to SA because the government is “doing terrible things to minority groups” and confiscating land. This was in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa signing the Expropriation Act into law. Thereafter, he signed an executive order granting the white Afrikaners asylum.

RAMAPHOSA WEIGHS IN ON AFRIKANER REFUGEES WHO LEFT FOR US

Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Monday, 12 May, Ramaphosa said the people enticed to go to the US do not fit the definition of a refugee.

The internationally recognised definition of refugees as set out in the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol is someone with a “well-founded fear of persecution” based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.

Ramaphosa insisted that the Afrikaners do not fit the description of a refugee and had a telephonic conversation with Trump to dispel the lies he had been told by people opposed to transformation in South Africa.

“I added to him that we were well taught by Nelson Mandela and other iconic leaders like Oliver Tambo on how to continue to build a united nation out of the diverse groupings that we have in South Africa. We are the only country on the continent where the colonisers came to stay, and we have never driven them out of our country.

“So, they’re staying and they’re making good progress. It’s a fringe grouping that does not have enough support, that is anti-transformation and anti-change, that would actually prefer South Africa to go back to apartheid type policies. I said to him [Trump] that I would never do that, I stand at the feet of Nelson Mandela, and we intend to proceed with the implementation of our Constitutional architecture,” he said.

Ramaphosa also revealed that he is set to meet with Donald Trump soon regarding the issue.

“Those people who fled, they are not being persecuted, they are not being hounded, they’re not being treated badly. They’re leaving ostensibly because they don’t want to embrace the changes that are taking place in the country in accordance with the Constitution. We think the American government got the wrong end of the stick here, but, we’ll continue talking to them,” he said.

GOVERNMENT WILL NOT BLOCK CITIZENS WHO WISH TO MOVE TO THE US

Last week, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration is preparing to help the Afrikaners find “temporary or longer-term housing” and “basic home furnishings, essential household items, and cleaning supplies.

The administration is also reportedly planning to help the Afrikaners secure groceries, weather-appropriate clothing, diapers, formula, hygiene products, and prepaid phones that support the day-to-day well-being of households.

In response, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) said while South Africa challenges the United States’ assessments of alleged refugee status, it will not block citizens who seek to depart the country from doing so, as it also observes their right of freedom of movement and freedom of choice, specifically the right to leave the country, as contained in section 21(2) of the Constitution. However, South Africa must ensure that it is compliant with other domestic laws and prescripts.