Trump's new offer to farmers goes beyond Afrikaans

US President Donald Trump broadened his offer to farmers wishing to leave South Africa to include non-Afrikaans speakers and to fast-track their citizenship, rather than offering just refugee status.

- Marizka Coetzer

Trump also reiterated that Washington would stop all US federal funding to South Africa.

In messages on his social media platform, Trump also repeated the incorrect statement that farmers were having their farms taken away.

Political analyst Piet Croucamp said there would be interest in Trump's offer for farmers to relocate, but not on a big scale.

"It won't be that simple... however, Trump still has to put it to paper," he said.

Those who might consider it were some farmers in financial distress due to droughts and changing values in the supply chains, and those concerned for the future of their children, Croucamp said.

"But until we see the rules and regulations on paper, we do not know what the farmers must comply," he said.

Maggie Venter, who assists South Africans to get jobs on farms in America, said the applications by Afrikaners to work in the US have not increased since Trump's announcement.