The South African government has strongly criticized a United States decision to prioritize refugee applications from white Afrikaners.
Officials labelled the policy misguided and based on discredited claims of systematic persecution.
In an official statement, Pretoria asserted there is no credible evidence supporting a so called white genocide. The government cited an open letter from prominent Afrikaners who themselves rejected the narrative, with some calling the US scheme racist and politically motivated.
The criticism targets a move by the Trump administration to create a special admissions category within its historically low annual refugee cap of 7,500 people. South African officials accused Washington of weaponising misinformation for political purposes.
The government stressed that national crime statistics show violent crime affects all racial groups. Using this issue to justify racialized asylum policies is deeply irresponsible, the statement read.
Analysts link the controversy to President Trump’s longstanding opposition to South Africa’s land reform policy. The dispute escalated further after Washington expelled South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool for accusing Trump of mobilising supremacism.
The diplomatic rift deepened following a reported Oval Office meeting where President Trump allegedly presented misleading evidence, including a photo from the Democratic Republic of Congo falsely described as murdered white South Africans.
Pretoria said these factual distortions prove the persecution narrative is a manufactured myth. It reaffirmed its commitment to protecting all citizens equally and called on the US to base its foreign policy on reality, not falsehoods.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
