US GROSSLY UNDERMINES SA, SAYS PRESIDENCY

Trump administration accused of causing tensions with its plan to resettle 'Afrikaners'

- MASHUDU SADIKE

THE Presidency has drawn a line in the sand in the ongoing stand off between South Africa and the US, saying the Trump administration was behind inflaming tensions among the two countries, especially in using the term 'refugee' to describe those who have been invited to the US.

A small group of about 54 Afrikaners who were set to leave South Africa yesterday and resettle in the US, said they were left with little choice but to choose a new life abroad.

Some of them at the OR Tambo International Airport said they were waiting for a chartered plane coming from the US. Before boarding, they said they were waiting to be vetted for pending criminal cases.

Despite the broad refugee freeze, Trump in February called on the U.S. to prioritise resettling Afrikaners, sayingwithout any proofthat they were "victims of unjust racial discrimination." His remarks followed after white lobby groups Afriforum and Solidarity claimed that the signing of the Expropriation Bill into an Act was aimed at targeting land owned by minorities.