LEILA FADEL, HOST:
President Trump has ignited a political firestorm in South Africa by offering refugee status to Afrikaners there. This comes after a series of false claims from his administration that the white minority in South Africa is facing, quote, "rights violations." While it's infuriated many in South Africa, some are seeing the funny side, as Kate Bartlett reports from Johannesburg.
(SOUNDBITE OF TIKTOK VIDEO)
BOUWER BOSCH: (Chanting) USA. USA. USA.
KATE BARTLETT, BYLINE: It's an executive order that spawned a thousand South African videos on TikTok.
(SOUNDBITE OF TIKTOK VIDEO)
BOSCH: Hey, dude. What's up?
I'm moving to the USA, bro.
OK. Why?
'Cause I just got refugee status, son.
OK. Don't talk like that, OK?
BARTLETT: This is one of many comedic videos that have gone viral in South Africa after Trump issued an executive order late last week, offering refugee status to Afrikaners, quote, "escaping government-sponsored, race-based discrimination." Trump has accused the South African government of engaging in land grabs after it passed a controversial land reform law this year. The law is aimed at addressing past inequalities, but no land has been seized. The South African government responded it was, quote, "ironic" that Trump was giving refugee status to a, quote, "economically privileged" group.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KALLIE KRIEL: We have to state categorically - we don't want to move elsewhere.
BARTLETT: Thanks, but no thanks, said Kallie Kriel from AfriForum. The Afrikaner group have been actively lobbying the U.S. government about the inequalities they claim Afrikaners face here. Afrikaners are the white descendants of mainly Dutch colonists.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KRIEL: We also have to make sure that our culture is transferred to future generations. And that cannot be done abroad.
BARTLETT: White people, who make up about 7% of the population, still own some 72% of private farmland.
(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE CLEMENT MANYATHELA SHOW")
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Your voice.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: Your station.
BARTLETT: The response in South Africa ranged from humor to anger to incredulity.
(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE CLEMENT MANYATHELA SHOW")
CLEMENT MANYATHELA: OK. So we now have an executive order issued against our country...
BARTLETT: That's media personality Clement Manyathela on his 702 radio show.
(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE CLEMENT MANYATHELA SHOW")
MANYATHELA: ...An executive order whose foundational premise lacks factual accuracy, and just simply fails to recognize and acknowledge the country's painful history of colonialism and apartheid.
BARTLETT: Outside a mall in Johannesburg, restaurant manager Sarah said Trump's actions could have serious repercussions for race relations in South Africa.
SARAH: Trump has brought division in the country. We were in the process of healing, and now, I mean, we're reliving the apartheid era. It just opens up that wound, you know?
BARTLETT: Both she and her husband Miles are Black South Africans. Neither wanted to share their surnames due to the racial sensitivities of this issue in the country. But Miles thinks Trump's South African-born adviser has had an influence.
MILES: I think Elon Musk is the one who's feeding all those news and all the things.
BARTLETT: Since Trump's announcement, the South African Chamber of Commerce in the U.S. said their email server crashed this week after tens of thousands of inquiries about refugee status.
ERNST ROETS: We do not have any idea regarding the details of it. That is now up to the Trump administration to clarify.
BARTLETT: That's AfriForum's Ernst Roets.
ROETS: As far as AfriForum can see, none such a process has yet been put in place.
BARTLETT: But for this one Afrikaner farmer, the thought of leaving is too much.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RUAN CRAUCAMP: All I can say is that Donald Trump must leave these things in America, and we can stay in South Africa. So - yeah.
BARTLETT: Ruan Craucamp told local broadcaster eNCA he would like to go to America, but only for a short while.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CRAUCAMP: Yeah, I'll maybe go take a holiday there, but I won't go to stay there.
BARTLETT: For NPR News, I'm Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg.
(SOUNDBITE OF DIE ANTWOORD SONG, "UGLY BOY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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