By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The U.S. decision to grant refugee status to a group of white Afrikaners is “misinformed,” Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said Thursday.
Speaking to reporters at a post-Cabinet meeting press conference on Thursday, 15 May, Ntshavheni said: “The decision by the United States to confer refugee status to a group of Afrikaner South Africans is misinformed, as they do not fit the definition of refugees as set out in the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
“Cabinet further reiterated that allegations of discrimination are unfounded and do not meet the threshold of persecution required under domestic and refugee law.”
The first group of white Afrikaners claiming to have faced persecution in South Africa who have been granted refugee status by the US arrived in Washington on Monday, 12 May.
Their arrival follows an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump in February, in which he authorised his administration to “prioritise” the admission and resettlement of Afrikaners in the US “who are victims of unjust racial discrimination”.
Ramaphosa’s working visit to the US
The arrival of the “refugees” in America and the continued deterioration of diplomatic relations between South Africa and the US comes as President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to visit the US next week, between 19 and 22 May.
Ramaphosa is expected to meet Trump at the White House on Wednesday, 21 May, to discuss “bilateral, regional and global issues of interest”, his office said this week.
While Ramaphosa is expected to pitch a trade deal to Trump, Ntshavheni was scant on the details of this potential package and who would be part of Ramaphosa’s delegation in Washington.
But as the President has indicated, there will be a deal that we will offer, we will negotiate a package and that package will also be beneficial to South Africa,” she said. “We cannot work against the interest of South Africa and its people.”
US bans agencies from working on G20
On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that the White House National Security Council has ordered US agencies and departments to cease work on South Africa’s G20, citing two people familiar with the issue.
In a press conference on Monday, Trump said he didn’t know how he could attend the G20 summit, which South Africa is hosting in Johannesburg in November, “unless that situation is taken care of”.
Ntshavheni said the government had not received any official communication that the US would stop its involvement in South Africa’s G20 processes.