South Africa denies Trump’s claim that returning white citizens face persecution – UK Times

Andrew Veitch, who once fled South Africa after being held at gunpoint in his car, now perceives greater threats within the United States.

Citing mass shootings in public spaces and violence perpetrated by US immigration officers, he expresses a profound unease with his current surroundings.

“People are being shot in broad daylight. American citizens are being shot and killed,” stated the 53-year-old, who relocated to California in 2003. “I don’t want to live in a place like this.”

His concerns are underscored by reports that officials under Donald Trump have defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers for fatal shootings of two US citizens in January, despite video evidence contradicting their accounts.

Mr Veitch plans to return to South Africa this year, joining thousands of white South Africans making a similar journey.

This trend emerges despite statements from Mr Trump suggesting the white minority faces persecution from the country’s Black majority government. Pretoria, however, maintains there is no evidence of discrimination or persecution against white citizens.

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While many emigrated after the end of white minority rule in 1994, often citing crime and employment difficulties, a significant number are now reversing course.

Mr Veitch is one of 12,000 individuals who have verified their citizenship status through an online portal launched by the government last November.

This initiative followed the overturning of a 1995 law that had stripped citizenship from some South Africans who had left the country.

These figures represent a fraction of the South African diaspora, though official statistics from 2022 indicate nearly 15,000 white South Africans returned that year.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber noted that 1,000 people have already reclaimed their citizenship, a number he anticipates will grow substantially.

“There is definitely a sense of optimism for South Africans abroad,” said Mr Schreiber, a member of the Democratic Alliance party, which has governed in coalition with the African National Congress since 2024.

A returnee himself, having lived in the US and Germany before coming home in 2019, he embodies the shift.

Recruitment agencies assisting expatriates report a surge in inquiries, with interviews revealing common motivations for returning, including a desire to be closer to family, lower living costs, and political instability abroad.

These sentiments are echoed within a 25,000-strong “Return to South Africa” Facebook group.

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Meanwhile, the Trump administration is expanding its refugee programme for white South Africans, specifically targeting Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch settlers.

Approximately 3,500 South Africans have entered the United States as refugees since the programme’s inception in May 2025.

Applicants have cited racially motivated crime and employment equity laws, which favour non-white candidates to address historical imbalances, as reasons for seeking refuge.

However, not all Afrikaners share this perspective. Naomi Saphire, who had lived in the United States for two decades, realised how much she missed home during a holiday visit.

Last year, she left North Carolina for a seaside town in South Africa’s Western Cape, where she says her three children spend more time outdoors, health insurance is affordable, and she prefers the schools.

“My heart is just full of gratefulness to be here,” the 46-year-old said from her home in Plettenberg Bay. “The US has been really good to me (but) I just felt like I was depriving my kids of this life.” Ms Saphire noted that many people she knows are also returning.

While crime and joblessness remain significant challenges in South Africa, the unemployment rate stands at 35 per cent for Black people compared with 8 per cent for white people, according to the latest figures from Stats SA.

Police statistics released last year also showed that farm murders, a topic highlighted by Mr Trump, claimed more Black victims than white.

Reports have found that photos and videos presented by Mr Trump on this issue were often taken out of context or misrepresented.

Despite a net outward flow of half a million white South Africans since 2001, including 95,000 between 2021 and 2026, a Stats SA analysis indicated that of the 28,000 South Africans who returned in 2022, 52.9 per cent – roughly 14,800 – were white.

Anton van Heerden, CEO of employment agency DNA Employer of Record, reported a 70 per cent jump in inquiries from white South Africans looking to return over the past six months.

Angel Jones, CEO of Johannesburg-based recruitment firm HomecomingEx, observed a roughly 30 per cent rise in inquiries since 2024. The boom in remote working since the Covid-19 pandemic has also facilitated this trend, with several returnees retaining their jobs abroad.

Mr Van Heerden added that many South African professionals benefit from extensive private security, which mitigates crime risks.

“If you can afford to live in a safe environment, you can have a much better life than I think in most places in the northern hemisphere,” he commented.

Several returnees also expressed a feeling that life in South Africa has improved. For instance, frequent power cuts have largely ceased.

Eugene Jansen, a 38-year-old engineer who returned from the Netherlands with his family in December, noted that those he knows who have returned believe conditions are improving. “The opinion is that the country is improving,” he said.