The Constitutional Court judgment means that Afrikaners who will take the US refugee status offer would remain South Africans.
Image: Independent Media Archives
SOUTH African government heads were left feeling "disturbed" by refugee status given to 54 Afrikaners who have chosen to pursue life in the United States, and viewed the classification as nothing more than politicking from their counterparts.
They maintained the asylum seekers who were due to leave yesterday, were not "persecuted" or "targeted" and the move by the US only served to keep the relations between the two nations of a fractious path.
The US government has granted refugee status to 54 Afrikaners, who claimed to have be persecuted in South Africa but President Cyril Ramaphosa, through his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, has taken a hard line against the US, accusing US president Donald Trump of continuing to cause tension among the two countries, especially in using the term 'refugee' to describe those who have been invited to the US.
"Disturbingly, one has to admit that our sovereignty as a country is being grossly undermined and violated by the US," Magwenya said.
By Sunday, 49 of the 54 that had been planning to leave OR Tambo international airport were waiting for a chartered plane from the US - they said they were waiting to be vetted for pending criminal cases before they would allowed to take off.
Kirsten Van Deventer(48), an unemployed Afrikaner, said that she was waiting to leave as soon as possible.
“I'm waiting to go because I have nothing in this country…I can't pay for bread. My children are hungry, I have to feed them. I have no work…I don't know if this country will let me leave,” Van Deventer said.
Meisie van Tonder (38), from the Free State, said that she felt she had no choice.
“I don't want to go anywhere…I don't have to go! But my husband is not happy here, so we have decided to go. We don't know what the future holds,” Tinder said.
The US embassy in South Africa on Sunday did not respond to questions on the criteria used to choose the people who claim to have been persecuted.
However, they had reportedly notified the government that the first batch of Afrikaners will be leaving the country, making good on its offer of "refugee status" for those seeking to leave. The US Department of Health and Human Services will provide assistance to the Afrikaners, including housing, basic home furnishings, and groceries.
Ramaphosa and US President Donald Trump spoke recently and agreed to meet to resolve tensions. However, the South African government has maintained its hard line against the US, saying that its actions were undermining the country's sovereignty.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has also pushed back against the US's stance in granting the Afrikaners asylum, saying that the use of the term "refugee" to describe the Afrikaners was politically motivated to further undermine the country's sovereignty.
Its spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said: "Even if there are allegations of discrimination, it is our view that these do not meet the threshold of persecution required under domestic and international refugee law."
AfriForum's Ernst van Zyl said that while the organisation was aware of the process to resettle people to the US, it was not privy to the details. AfriForum has been accused of misinforming the Trump administration about South Africa.
The resettlement of Afrikaners in the US has sparked controversy, with many questioning the legitimacy of the "refugee status", with the South African government saying the discrimination allegations were unfounded.
International relations analyst Dr John Molepo said that the resettlement of Afrikaners to the US has added to the already strained relations between the two countries.
“The two countries have disagreed on several issues, including South Africa's push to prosecute Israel for genocide at the International Court of Justice,” Molepo said.
Political analyst Sandile Swana said that for an asylum seeker or a refugee, there must be an evidence-based assessment that shows that that person has got legitimate rights that makes it impossible for them to remain in the country of their origin.
“We have many unstable areas here, whether in Eritrea, the DRC, Congo, and so on, where refugees, would come to South Africa, running away from verifiable threats that are well established.
"In South Africa, we do not have verifiable threats that target a specific ethnic group, specifically the white Afrikaners, or people who hold certain political views or certain religious beliefs,” Swana said.
mashudu.sadike@inl.co.za