An Afrikaner lobby group is holding a vigil on Saturday with thousands of white crosses on Washington’s National Mall to commemorate what it says are victims of “farm attacks”.
Claims of genocide against white South Africans have been discredited by every political party in the country, including by those representing Afrikaners.
“I’m an Afrikaner from South Africa myself,” Ambassador Meyer said, “and I can say that I’ve never experienced something of that kind.”
Meyer said he would like to have a conversation with Trump about the reality of the situation, saying that as a “born Afrikaner”, he has the “legitimacy” to speak about the subject.
The ambassador helped negotiate an end to apartheid on behalf of the National Party, which was responsible for it, with now-president Cyril Ramaphosa also a key negotiator for the African National Congress party.
He said the “trust” between the two men was one reason President Ramaphosa appointed him to help mend US-South Africa relations, as well as “the fact he also saw the value of me being an Afrikaner”.
“But I’m not here to represent the Afrikaner only,” Meyer says.
Last week, the Trump administration announced visa restrictions for those South Africans who it said were responsible for “race-based discrimination” against white people. It also warned of further punitive actions if South African leaders did not address the issue.
Police data shows the majority of victims of crime in South Africa, including on farms, are black. Farm violence, often motivated by robberies, is an issue but represents a smaller number of homicides in the country.
While no politician disputes that crime is a problem in South Africa, many experts say this does not qualify as “persecution”.
Larry Bartlett, the former director of the US Refugee Assistance Programme, said it could even be “unlawful” to appropriate a programme defined in law for people who “really have no chance to go home”.
He said white people who were unlikely to qualify as refugee in law were taking scarce opportunities meant for those fleeing war or ethnic cleansing.
