The first group of 49 white South Africans granted refugee status under President Donald Trump’s program departed Johannesburg on Monday, further straining relations between the United States and South Africa.
The Trump administration has prioritized Afrikaners—descendants of mostly Dutch settlers—while restricting refugee admissions from other parts of the world. South African authorities have responded with both alarm and ridicule, arguing that the US has interjected itself into a domestic political issue it does not understand.
“The government unequivocally states that these are not refugees,” South African foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika. “But we are not going to stand in their way.”
The decision comes amid heightened racial tensions in South Africa over land and jobs that have divided the ruling coalition. Since Nelson Mandela led the country to democracy in 1994, the white minority has retained most of the wealth amassed under colonialism and apartheid.
Current statistics show whites still own three-quarters of private land and possess approximately 20 times the wealth of the Black majority, according to the Review of Political Economy. Less than 10% of white South Africans are unemployed, compared to more than a third of their Black counterparts.
The claim that white South Africans face discrimination has gained traction in right-wing online forums and has been echoed by Trump’s ally, South African-born Elon Musk.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has cut all U.S. financial assistance to South Africa, citing disapproval of its land policy and its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.