Boeremark is at peace

AFRIKANERS: RELAXED SCENE AT MARKET CONTRARY TO LIES SENT TO TRUMP

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Country music and the aroma of pancakes enveloped the boeremark, or farmers' market, outside Pretoria where thousands of Afrikaners browsed on a Saturday morning.

Signs in Afrikaans advertised traditional foods: braided koeksister doughnuts, cinnamon-sprinkled melkkos porridge and strips of biltong.

There were stands of books in Afrikaans, a language linked to Dutch, and racks of khaki clothes associated with Afrikaner farmers.

The peaceful scene was a far cry from claims of fear and persecution that reached Washington, leading President Donald Trump to offer refugee status to the white Afrikaner minority in February.

But, despite the mellow mood, many said they did feel threatened in post-apartheid South Africa. As "a white person and a boer", she was a victim of "reverse racism", said jewellery vendor Cesere Smith, 54.

"There is trouble coming," she said vaguely, welcoming Trump's intervention.

"Every person should be proud of who they are, but here we must feel guilty - and that's not right," Smith said.