Why 49 Afrikaners Sparked a Global Race Debate
A small group of white Afrikaners granted refugee status in the U.S. has ignited global outrage, shining a harsh spotlight on South Africa’s post-apartheid contradictions. This op-ed dives into the uncomfortable truths behind the headlines.
Erik Schrama
May 16, 2025 - 8:48 AM
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A Storm Over Afrikaner Refugees
A storm is brewing over a small group of 49 South Africans who have chosen to leave their homeland for the United States. South African social media is ablaze with bots demanding these “racist settlers” and “colonizers” be expelled or stripped of their citizenship. But these 49 are only a tiny fraction compared to the estimated 1 million South Africans already living abroad. So why has their departure sparked such fierce controversy?
The answer lies in who they are: Afrikaners — white South Africans — and the fact that they didn’t leave as ordinary migrants, but were granted temporary refugee status by the U.S. government.
Race-Based Laws and Their Consequences
You might find this hard to believe, but these Afrikaners have a point, a contentious one, admittedly. South Africa’s ruling party, the ANC, remains deeply obsessed with race. Today, the country has 142 laws explicitly based on skin color — not remnants from apartheid left behind, but new laws passed since 1994, when democracy replaced apartheid. According to racelaw.co.za, an independent monitoring website, “117 racial acts of parliament have been adopted since 1994.”
Though many South Africans may not care about skin color in everyday life, the government is arguably the most race-obsessed in the world. Want a lucrative government contract? You’ll need BBBEE points (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment), a politically correct term for racial quotas. To list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, companies must de facto demonstrate black ownership, often around 30%, to remain competitive under South Africa’s BEE framework, especially in regulated sectors. Initially, such laws aimed to address historic injustices.
But when race, not merit or skill, becomes the deciding factor, it raises a critical question: Do we in Europe support this approach?
Post-WWII Europe overwhelmingly rejected race-based laws and regimes that enforce them. We opposed apartheid, right? So why is the EU funneling billions into a government that actively enforces skin-color laws? In March, the European Commission pledged €4.7 billion to South Africa for “green energy and beyond.” How can Europeans justify sending taxpayer money to a regime as race-obsessed as apartheid ever was?
Failed Promises and Deepening Crises
Nevertheless, many in South Africa and around the world continue to defend the country’s racial laws, including the ANC. Their justifications often echo those of the old apartheid regime: ideological and pseudoscientific arguments cloaked in moral language. But these policies remain fixated on race, perpetuating division rather than healing it.
And the results speak for themselves. After 30 years of democracy, South Africa faces staggering poverty rates: around 55% of the population lives below the poverty line, with 25% suffering from food insecurity. Official unemployment stands at almost 33% nationally, soaring to 49% in provinces like the Eastern Cape, where I live.
The Eastern Cape is a stark example of how Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) has failed. Skyrocketing unemployment and a neonatal mortality rate of three babies a day, due to lack of access to basic medical care reveal a tragic truth: the very people BEE was meant to uplift are suffering the most. Overwhelming bureaucracy, rampant corruption, and ideological extremism, paired with widespread 'loadshedding' and 'watershedding' as national infrastructure crumbles, have driven businesses away, shrinking the economy and deepening poverty.
A Crumbling Dream and the Flight of the Nation
South Africa is friendly and beautiful but also wild. Tourists rave about its charm, but living here is different. If you own any kind of property, you face the constant threat of “expropriation without compensation” and squatters backed by racial laws. Private property rights are effectively abolished. If you invest in building a business, farm, or home, ANC cadres can declare the land theirs overnight, and there’s nothing you can do.
No wonder companies like Mercedes-Benz are cutting back production or leaving. Just like the estimated 1 million South Africans who’ve fled for Europe, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, or the U.S.
That’s why these 49 Afrikaner refugees have caused such an uproar: they shatter the myth of the Rainbow Nation. For 30 years, the ANC has crafted an international image as champions of democracy and justice. But why flee from a paradise? Their flight exposes the cracks beneath the polished facade — a country still deeply divided by race and collapsing under the weight of its own failed policies.
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Erik Schrama
Writer