'White genocide does not exist': South Africa's new US envoy rejects Trump's claim
New ambassador Roelf Meyer, himself a "born Afrikaner", tells the BBC the notion of a mass attack on white Afrikaners "does not exist" — as a lobby group lays white crosses on Washington's National Mall.
South Africa’s new ambassador to the United States has flatly rejected President Donald Trump’s assertion of a “white genocide” against Afrikaners, telling the BBC the notion of a mass attack on the white Afrikaner minority “does not exist” (https://kahawatungu.com/south-african-white-genocide-does-not-exist-new-ambassador-to-us-says/).
Roelf Meyer, who describes himself as “a born Afrikaner”, said his identity gave him the “legitimacy” to say so. “I’m an Afrikaner from South Africa myself,” he said, “and I can say that I’ve never experienced something of that kind.” Meyer was one of the chief negotiators who ended apartheid in the 1990s, acting for the National Party alongside Cyril Ramaphosa for the ANC. He was appointed ambassador in April after US–South Africa relations plummeted.
In a separate eNCA interview, Meyer warned that labelling farm murders as “political persecution” was “very dangerous”, adding “first of all, it’s not true, and secondly, there is no proof” (https://www.africaninsider.com/politics/very-dangerous-sa-envoy-meyer-warns-against-labelling-farm-murders-political-persecution/).
His comments come as Afrikaner lobby group Lex Libertas, founded by Ernst Roets, holds a vigil today on Washington’s National Mall with 3,000 white crosses commemorating what it says are victims of “farm attacks”. Police data shows the majority of crime victims in South Africa, including on farms, are black.
Last week the Trump administration announced visa restrictions for South Africans it said were responsible for “race-based discrimination” against white people. Nearly 13,000 refugees have been admitted to the US under Trump’s Afrikaner pathway since last year, all but three of them South African.
Sources
- BBC News via Kahawatungu (https://kahawatungu.com/south-african-white-genocide-does-not-exist-new-ambassador-to-us-says/)
- Geneva Times (https://thegenevatimes.ch/south-african-white-genocide-does-not-exist-new-ambassador-to-us-tells-bbc/)
- African Insider / eNCA (https://www.africaninsider.com/politics/very-dangerous-sa-envoy-meyer-warns-against-labelling-farm-murders-political-persecution/)
- TV Guide schedule, “Roelf Meyer: The Interview” (https://www.tvguide.co.uk/schedule/52664f54-77cf-5b6c-8ffa-4031248ee5e9/roelf-meyer-the-interview)
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