US Plans $335,000 Campaign in South Africa to Persuade More Afrikaners to Apply for Refugee Status

• The United States of America's State Department outlined a proposed $335,000 research and media campaign in South Africa
• The plan follows unexpectedly low application numbers since online refugee applications opened for Afrikaners in November 2025
• Focus groups are planned across multiple South African cities, including the Afrikaner-only enclave of Orania in the Northern Cape

Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online.

WASHINGTON, DC — The United States government is weighing a multiphase media and research campaign worth up to $335,000 aimed at encouraging more white Afrikaners to apply for refugee resettlement in the US, after application numbers fell well short of what the Trump administration had anticipated.

The proposal, seen by The Guardian, outlines a State Department plan that would involve focus groups, a large-scale survey, and a digital advertising drive conducted primarily in Afrikaans.

Read also

Solidarity warns US could take further action against South Africa, raises concerns over AGOA

Proposed campaign to span urban and rural communities

The three-phase State Department plan would begin with focus groups held in cities and towns across Gauteng, the Free State, the Western Cape, and the Northern Cape.

Planned locations include Pretoria, Krugersdorp, Bloemfontein, Kroonstad, Stellenbosch, Worcester, Kimberley, and Orania — the latter being an Afrikaner-only community in the Northern Cape.

A 1,000-person survey to test messaging would follow, before a six-month digital advertising campaign would be launched through local agencies.

A State Department spokesperson defended the broader policy.

"President Trump has been very clear that we are prioritising the resettlement of Afrikaners in South Africa who are escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination," the spokesperson said.

South African officials have argued that the low number of applicants itself undermines the premise of the policy, saying it demonstrates that claims of systematic persecution lack substance.

What you need to know about claims made against South Africa

Read also

“Why are people complaining?” SA man defends Zimbabwe’s progress after SA brands flood the market

• The FW De Klerk Foundation has rubbished Donald Trump's claims about racial discrimination.
• Donald Trump deleted a tweet claiming that South Africa was a dangerous place.
• The US President offered citizenship to farmers and their families if they don’t feel safe in South Africa.
• Elon Musk claimed on X that the media weren’t reporting on the genocide in South Africa.
• Trump claimed that South Africa had a policy of exterminating people, which is why he would not attend the G20.

Trump doubles down on white genocide claim

Briefly News reported in January 2026 that Trump doubled down on comments about white genocide taking place in South Africa.

The President of the United States maintained that he saw the numbers regarding the persecution of Afrikaners in the country.

Trump made the comments after he was asked what it would take for him to believe there was no genocide taking place.

Source: Briefly News