President Cyril Ramaphosa has criticized a group of 59 white South Africans who relocated to the U.S. as “cowards,” following their arrival under refugee status granted by President Donald Trump. Speaking at an agricultural exhibition in South Africa’s Free State province, Ramaphosa dismissed their move as driven by resistance to post-apartheid reforms.
“These are people not happy with efforts to correct historic wrongs,” Ramaphosa said. “Real South Africans don’t run from problems—we stay and fix them.” The Afrikaners were welcomed at Washington Dulles airport by U.S. officials, including Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau, who said they had endured “violence and terror.” Some arrived with children, waving U.S. flags amid patriotic decorations.
Ramaphosa rejected claims of racial persecution, which Trump and his ally Elon Musk have promoted. The U.S. has also accused South Africa of forcibly seizing white-owned land—an allegation Ramaphosa denies. He recently signed a law permitting land seizures without compensation in certain cases deemed equitable. “We’ve never driven white South Africans out,” Ramaphosa said. “Afrikaners are not being persecuted, and these individuals do not qualify as refugees.”
The president’s comments sparked backlash on social media, with critics calling his remarks insensitive. Ramaphosa said he intends to meet with Trump soon to clarify South Africa’s position and challenge what he called a misrepresentation of the country’s reality.
