South African President Cyril Ramaphosa wants the world to believe there’s no persecution going on — just a bunch of dramatic white farmers packing their bags because they “don’t want to embrace the changes.” That’s right. According to him, if you’re a white South African trying to escape land seizures and brutal farm attacks, you’re not a victim — you’re just resistant to “transformation.”
“They are leaving because they don’t want to embrace the changes taking place in our country in accordance with our Constitution,” Ramaphosa said Monday. He also added: “We were well taught by Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo on how to build a united nation. South Africa belongs to all who live in it, and no one is being driven out.”
🇿🇦 President Cyril Ramaphosa responds:
Those people who are being enticed to go to the United States do not fit the definition of a refugee. They are not being persecuted or treated badly — they are leaving because they don’t want to embrace the changes taking place in our… pic.twitter.com/rnelIPTRe5
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) May 12, 2025
That’d be easier to believe if dozens of Afrikaner families hadn’t just landed at Washington Dulles International Airport, welcomed by top U.S. officials on a special State Department resettlement flight. Among them were small children and parents who’ve faced multiple violent attacks. They didn’t leave their homes because they “don’t want change.” They left because they’re trying to stay alive.
President Donald Trump knew what he was doing when he signed an executive order in February granting asylum status to these refugees — and calling out the South African government’s “shocking disregard of its citizens’ rights.” The order called out the expropriation of land “without compensation” and condemned policies that “dismantle equal opportunity” while fueling “disproportionate violence” against minority landowners.
BREAKING – Donald Trump is now openly calling out the mainstream media for refusing to report on the genocide of White South Africans, stating, “Farmers are being killed, and they happen to be White, and you people don’t want to report on it.” pic.twitter.com/QnR9RTQTLy
— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) May 12, 2025
Naturally, critics — and the leftist media — cried foul. They said Trump was exaggerating the threat to white South Africans and ignoring other refugee populations. But when the Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau met the refugees, he made it clear their stories weren’t political — they were real.
“They tell quite harrowing stories of the violence that they faced in South Africa that was not redressed by the authorities by the unjust application of the law,” Landau said. “The United States, as we were proud to say, has stood for equal justice under law and the fair and impartial application of the law.”
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa doubled down, claiming the land seizures are about “public interest” and denying that the Expropriation Act targets any racial group. That’s a tough sell, considering white South Africans — just 7% of the population — still own over half the farmland. Rather than celebrate their success and promote equal opportunity, Ramaphosa’s government seems more focused on punishment than progress.
The New York Times, doing damage control as always, tried to poke holes in Trump’s genocide warning. They cited South African police stats: 225 farm-related killings from 2020 to 2024, with 53 white farmers among the dead. Their takeaway? “See? It’s not genocide.” But to the families being tortured, attacked, or murdered in their homes — numbers don’t change the fear.
🇿🇦Each cross represents a white farmer who was murdered in South Africa.
And some people still deny that white South Africans/Boers are persecuted and say they don’t deserve asylum because they are white.
— Dr. Maalouf (@realMaalouf) May 12, 2025
One refugee told the NYT she had been attacked four times — including the day before her asylum interview. That’s not paranoia. That’s survival.
Of course, the humanitarian industrial complex came out swinging. Cinthya Hagemeier of the International Rescue Committee didn’t deny the Afrikaners were being persecuted. Instead, she complained that Trump was helping them while keeping out others. “The Trump administration should bring operations for all resettlement processes fully back online… The arrival of these families shows the U.S. has the capacity to remain a welcoming nation,” she said.
In other words, they’re not mad that these Afrikaners are hurting — they’re mad that Trump dared to prioritize them.
South Africans chant call to genocide against White people.
“Kill the boer, the farmer…”
This is the reason America is granting refuge to White South Africans.
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 13, 2025
Let’s not pretend this is about fairness. The South African government and its supporters have made it clear: white landowners are expected to sit down, shut up, and hand over everything — or else. When people resist, they’re branded as racists or relics of apartheid. Never mind that some of them were toddlers or not even born when apartheid ended.
And let’s not forget the Economic Freedom Fighters — the Marxist radicals who openly sing about killing white farmers at their rallies. That’s not just hateful. That’s evil. And Ramaphosa’s government turns a blind eye while claiming to care about “unity.”
If this is what “transformation” looks like, then the Afrikaners were right to flee. And America — thank God — had a leader willing to give them refuge.