John Steenhuisen Says Afrikaners Made a Mistake, DA Leader Says No Farms Are Being Expropriated

• John Steenhuisen claimed that the Afrikaners who left the country were making a mistake
• The Minister of Agriculture stated that South Africa was on the cusp of great things
• The Democratic Alliance leader also said that no land was being expropriated without compensation

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.

FREE STATE – John Steenhuisen believes that the Afrikaners who left the country have made the wrong choice.

A total of 49 Afrikaners left the country to become refugees in the United States of America.

The group were the first to be accepted by the USA following Donald Trump’s executive order, which allowed Afrikaners to move over if they felt threatened in South Africa.

Steenhuisen believes Afrikaners made a mistake

Speaking at the Nampo Harvest Day in Bothaville on 16 May 2025, Steenhuisen said that Afrikaners who sought refuge in the US had made a mistake.

“We can’t determine where people live and what their life choices are, but I think they’ve made a mistake,” he said.

“We are on the cusp of great things in South Africa with a new government, new energy and new growth initiatives. I think South Africa will start to take off in a major way and become the envy of the world,” the Minister of Agriculture said.

Steenhuisen denies land is being confiscated without expropriation

The minister also weighed in on the claims made that Afrikaners were being persecuted in the country. Trump previously claimed that the South African government was confiscating land and treating certain classes of people very badly.

These sentiments were echoed by Elon Musk and Afrikaner groups in the country, who maintained that there was a genocide against white people going on.

The minister has, however, denied that this is the case.

“There's no single farm that's being expropriated without compensation. Yes, we have issues with crime, but these affect all citizens in the same way,” he stated.

What you need to know about Afrikaners moving to the USA

• AfriForum stated that Afrikaners would not be leaving the country despite Trump’s offer.
• The SA Chamber of Commerce in the US (SACCUSA) server crashed due to the number of people applying for refugee status.
• In March 2025, the US Embassy provided an update on resettlement plans for Afrikaners.
• The SA Chamber of Commerce in the US announced that it received over 67,000 applications from Afrikaners for refugee status.
• The USA was preparing to welcome the first group of Afrikaner refugees on 11 May 2025.

Ramaphosa maintains that Afrikaners aren’t persecuted

Briefly News reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa maintained that Afrikaners were not being persecuted.

Ramaphosa made the comments ahead of a meeting with Donald Trump in the United States of America.

Ramaphosa stated that South Africa was one of the only countries in Africa where the former minority powers were embraced.

Source: Briefly News