WATCH: Afrikaner refugee shares her story of leaving South Africa for the US

Afrikaner refugees who boarded a plane for the United States say they left South Africa for safety reasons. The flight was fully funded by the US government.

On Sunday, a group of more than 45 Afrikaners travelled to the US under US President Donald Trump's refugee program for Afrikaners.

Trump claimed that "very bad things" were happening in SA, insisting that there was genocide (an act committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group) taking place in the country.

Farm attacks

In an interview with independent journalist and retired Army officer, Colonel Chris Wyatt, Thea van Straten said she had survived four attacks on her farm in the Free State. She said the most recent attack happened while she was applying for the program. These attacks happened in the space of two years.

Van Straten, who owned a guesthouse and cattle, said Afrikaners continued to be blamed for the sins of the Apartheid government.

"We are just the black-lash. I mean, it ended 31 years ago. How long are we going to carry on," adding that Afrikaners were not consulted by the government regarding the Land Expropriation Act.

She told Wyatt that there are people back in SA taking care of the farm and it is in the process of being sold.

"It's me, myself and whatever I have in my banking accounts..and couple of suitcases. If it [the farm] doesn't get sold, it doesn't get sold. That's it. I am taking the risk," van Straten said.

Another Afrikaner, Charl Kleinhaus, farmer in Limpopo, travelled to Buffalo after landing in the US and told the New York Times that he and his family packed their bags for safety reasons. 

Trump's Afrikaner refugee program is centred around the Land Expropriation Act.

Understanding the Land Expropriation Act

The refugee program was introduced after the Land Expropriation Bill was signed into law. 

However, despite the many reports on the bill and explainers, there are still those who do not fully understand what the act means. 

Speaking to Africa Check, a fact-checking site, Thomas Karberg, an associate at the legal firm Werksmans Attorneys, explained that under the Act, land can be expropriated to build among other structures, roads and government-funded facilities.

Africa Check stated that, "The main purpose of the act is to allow the government to attain ownership of private property for a public purpose or in the public interest, where property owners will receive just and equitable compensation for expropriated land, rather than being paid the market value. This new act also allows for land to be expropriated without compensation in exceptional cases."

The Act does not simply allow for government to confiscate land from anyone. There are laws that must be followed.

SA government response

South African leaders have rubbished claims of land confiscation and genocide. 

Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum, Ramaphosa said those who were enticed to go to the US did not fit the definition of a refugee.

He emphasised that those leaving are not being persecuted in South Africa.

Department of International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Ronald Lamola, said the notion being peddled, that Afrikaners are being persecuted in South Africa, is false.

SA Deputy President Paul Mashatile has further invited Trump to visit SA.

"There’s no genocide here. We are beautiful, happy people. Black and White working, and living together," Mashatile said, speaking on the sidelines of the Africa Travel Indaba in KwaZulu-Natal. 

Meanwhile, lobby group AfriForum said the departure was a serious indictment against the government, which still refuses to condemn calls for violence against Afrikaners.

Despite this, the group said it remains determined to continue, together with other institutions of the Solidarity Movement, its efforts to help create a future for Afrikaners in SA. 

seanne.rall@iol.co.za

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