Worldview: Trump’s Afrikaner crusade sparks backlash, strains US-South Africa ties

Key topics:Trump’s Afrikaner asylum offer strains US–South Africa relationsOrania rejects refugee status, seeks support at homeEconomic and political fallout grows amid rising racial tension.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here. .By Kerry Lanaghan.Listen to this story instead:.US President Donald Trump’s vocal support for Afrikaner grievances in South Africa has ignited a fierce backlash and deepened diplomatic tensions between Washington and Pretoria. Centred on discredited claims of racial persecution against white Afrikaners, Trump’s campaign, amplified by his South African-born adviser Elon Musk, has been condemned by South African leaders and analysts as a misguided intervention rooted in outdated racial narratives.At the heart of the controversy is Orania, an all-white Afrikaner enclave in the Northern Cape, whose leaders have acknowledged Trump’s attention but firmly rejected his offer of asylum, saying: “Help us, here.” The community, steeped in Afrikaner nationalism and symbolic of apartheid-era isolation, has unexpectedly found itself at the centre of global politics.Trump’s rhetoric and actions have included offering refugee status to Afrikaners, cutting US funding for South Africa’s HIV/AIDS programme, and expelling South Africa’s ambassador to the US. These moves have destabilised bilateral relations and triggered a political and economic crisis for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration, which is struggling to maintain trade and diplomatic ties with the US - one of its largest partners.Critics argue that Trump’s stance is informed by a flawed understanding of South Africa's complex, post-apartheid reality. Political analyst Frans Cronje stated that the US has made “an analytical error,” interpreting the country solely through a historical racial lens. While fringe Afrikaner groups claim a “genocide” against white farmers, experts like agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo insist that rural crime affects farmers of all races and that no group is uniquely targeted.Meanwhile, Afrikaners themselves are divided. Some nationalist groups appreciate the symbolic support but reject asylum, holding fast to their identity as South Africans. Others, like handyman Hugo van Niekerk, living in poverty alongside Black South Africans, noting that “everyone is struggling - white, black and Indian.”The economic fallout is already apparent. Trump’s proposed 31% tariff on South African imports, suspended for 90 days, could severely impact sectors like agriculture. Farmers like Theo de Jager warn this move will hurt those Trump claims to support, making it harder for South African exports to compete globally.The political rift widens as the ANC government condemns groups like AfriForum and Solidarity for lobbying the US against South Africa’s transformation policies. Trump’s campaign, while framed as advocacy for a minority group, risks undermining South Africa’s economic stability and stirring racial tension in an already fragile landscape.*This article is a précis of a piece originally published by The Financial Times which can be read in full here.

Worldview: Trump’s Afrikaner crusade sparks backlash, strains US-South Africa ties

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