Afriforum Says Afrikaners Are Not Going Anywhere in Response to Donald Trump’s Executive Order
- Lobby group Afriforum has distanced itself from United States President Donald Trump's executive order
- Trump extended refugee status to Afrikaners and said the South African government is discriminating against and oppressing them
- Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel said Afrikaners want to stay and build the country
- Briefly News spoke to an Afrikaner who distanced himself from the executive order and expressed his love for South Africa
Tebogo Mokwena, affiliated with Briefly News, provided local and international political analysis and interviews in South Africa for Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News during his nine years of experience.
Source: Getty Images
JOHANNESBURG — Lobby group Afriforum clarified that Afrikaners have no intentions of relocating to the United States after President Donald Trump signed an executive order granting Afrikaners refugee status in the US.
AfriForum addresses the media
AfriForum hosted a media briefing on 8 February 2025, a day after the White House issued the executive order. The order announced that Afrikaners were welcome to apply for refugee status. It accused the South African government of creating policies to discriminate against Afrikaners. It also said South Africa's policies are a threat to the US's national security and foreign policy.
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What did AfriForum say?
eNCA posted the briefing on its @eNCA X account. Afrifoum CEO Kallie Kriel affirmed that Afrikaners do not want to leave the country. He said it is time to build the future and this can be done despite the government.
"The Afrikaner folk became a people here on the southern tip of Africa. We are indigenous and we are going nowhere," he said.
He said Afrikaners don't want to move to other countries and said Afrikaner ancestors worked hard to form the Afrikaner identity.
View the X video here:
Briefly News speaks to Afrikaner
An Afrikaner who did not want to be named spoke to Briefly News and shared his comment on the executive order. He strongly affirmed his love for South Africa.
"Having grown up in a society where apartheid was not an actual thing but a thing in the past, I recognise that BEE is rather racist itself. I grew up poor and worked hard to outgrow my circumstances. In my mind, it feels like everyone has the opportunity to do that, and in doing so, everyone should have the ability to live a good life here," he said.
He added that he believes Afrikaners are scared and are constantly told to leave the country, but with nowhere to go. Despite this, he shared his love for SA.
"I went to Greece this year and realised that South Africa is an amazing country. We are not as far behind as we think we are. I don't think we are behind at all in terms of what we can achieve. the corruption is holding us back."
Source: Getty Images
What you need to know about SA and the USA
- Cyril Ramaphosa recently said he wanted to engage Donald Trump's administration formally after he halted aid to SA
- Trump announced his decision to halt aid because the South African government was seizing land, committing human rights violations and oppressing a minority in the country
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would not attend the G20 Summit in Johannesburg in November
Ronald Lamola responds to Trump's executive order
In a related article, Briefly News reported that International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola responded to the White House's executive order granting Afrikaners refugee status. He noted it with dismay and criticised the US government.
He said he found it ironic that the United States government wanted to award Afrikaners refugee status while denying refugees from other countries asylum and deporting them.
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Source: Briefly News
