The South African government has strongly criticized the Trump administration’s decision to prioritize refugee applications from white Afrikaners, rejecting allegations of a “white genocide” and labeling the policy as politically motivated. The dispute centers on the U.S. setting its annual refugee cap at 7,500—the lowest in history—with most slots reportedly reserved for Afrikaners.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration dismissed claims of systemic violence against white citizens, noting that national crime statistics do not explicitly track racial demographics of perpetrators or victims. Officials accused the U.S. of exploiting racial tensions to advance a divisive agenda. The controversy followed Trump’s earlier remarks during a May Oval Office meeting with Ramaphosa, where he criticized South Africa for failing to protect white farmers amid rising farm murders.
U.S. authorities had previously alleged “extrajudicial killings” of white landowners, a claim South Africa denied as politically driven. The tension escalated when South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled after condemning Trump’s rhetoric as “mobilizing supremacism.” Ramaphosa later criticized Afrikaners who sought U.S. asylum, calling them “cowards” for fleeing persecution.
Meanwhile, Julius Malema, leader of South Africa’s third-largest political party, has rallied crowds with chants of “Kill the Boer (Afrikaner), the farmer,” though he stopped short of endorsing violence against white people. The slogan has been linked to farm murders in recent years.
