Nearly 70,000 South Africans Express Interest in U.S. Resettlement Offer

By Ollus Ndomu

Nearly 70,000 South Africans have expressed interest in relocating to the United States following Washington’s offer to resettle individuals from the country’s Afrikaner community, a business group said.

The South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA (Saccusa) reported that its website had received tens of thousands of registrations from individuals seeking more information about the resettlement program.

In a February executive order, former President Donald Trump stated that Afrikaners—descendants of mainly Dutch settlers who arrived in South Africa in the 17th century—could be admitted as refugees, citing “unjust racial discrimination” as grounds for their relocation.

Saccusa said it had submitted a list of interested individuals to the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, calling it a “pivotal step” in the process. An embassy official confirmed to the BBC that the list had been received but did not provide further details on the program’s status.

Saccusa, a U.S.-based business group, is not an official government body but became involved in the registration process after being inundated with inquiries about the resettlement offer, its president, James Diamond, told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.

There has been no official confirmation from Washington on how the U.S. plans to proceed with the registrations.