The debate over Afrikaner persecution

AS A GROUP of 49 South Africans had officially been granted asylum in the United States and travelled to the US this week, the South African government expressed concern and rejected their status as refugees facing persecution of Afrikaners in their home country.

- RUDI BUYS

In official statements the government rejected the claims of racial discrimination and targeting of Afrikaners by the state, as well as claims that whites on farms are a particular target of violent crime in rural South Africa.

AfriForum and Solidariteit, the civil societies organisations that in the main have agitated locally and abroad for these claims to be recognised as valid, continues to counter the statements by government and charges for what it considers a wilful refusal to recognise that persecution of Afrikaners is real and the claims factual.

The debate is not only one between these organisations and government, but also much wider, including other civil society organisations, media houses, public commentators, and opinion formers.

Indeed, society at large has been sucked into a whirlwind debate of the matter on par with debates on other challenges the country faces.