Afrikaner leaders say ‘Nee dankie, Mnr Trump’
LEADERS of the Afrikaner community, including farmers, have told American President Donald Trump hulle gaan nerens nie after his offer of refugee status.
Last week, Trump shocked South Africans when he accused the government of land grabs following the signing of the Land Expropriation Act.
On Friday, Trump took it a step further, when he signed an executive order, which stated his country would promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.
The order read: “The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take appropriate steps, consistent with law, to prioritise humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.”
But in a Saturday morning press conference, the pro-Afrikaner AfriForum and Solidarity Movement rejected Trump’s refugee status offer to Afrikaners.
Afrikaner Foundation executive director Ernst Roets perceived South Africa to be “a very bad policy environment”, but added: “...We don’t want to encourage people to leave.”
AfriForum chief executive officer, Kallie Kriel, said his party was committed to stayingin SA.
He states: “We can only survive as Afrikaners in the southern part of Africa. Therefore, we are working hard to find a solution for this situation and we are going to put solutions to President Ramaphosa after a discussion with the USA.”
Both AfriForum and Solidarity Movement said they would soon visit America to plead with Trump not to punish all South Africans through by cancelling aid.
Kriel said it would be a bad decision for Afrikaners to take Trump’s offer.
He adds: “Our position would be the price is very high if you do that because you are going to lose your whole cultural identity and your next generation would not be Afrikaners.
“We remain committed to being the people of this country.”
He said AfriForum has never communicated its grievances directly to Trump, but it was raised by Afrikaners living in America.
Besides the Land Act, Afrikaner leaders were also unhappy about the government not taking action against certain politicians publicly expressing “hate speech” such as “Kill the Boer”.