South Africa
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On Monday (May 12), President Donald Trump took questions from reporters after a White House event, and was pointedly asked about welcoming white South Africans as refugees through a February executive order despite the administration’s feverish agenda of detaining and deporting migrants and others from the United States. “Why are you creating an expediting path into the country for Afrikaners but not others?” he was asked.“Because they’re being killed and we don’t want to see people be killed,” Trump responded. “But it’s a genocide that’s taking place that you people don’t want to write about. Farmers are being killed. They happen to be white. Whether they are white or Black makes no difference to me. White farmers are being brutally killed and the land is being confiscated in South Africa.”But the data, and further research, disproves those claims. According to Willamette University Professor of History Seth Cotler, such claims have only been sourced to neo-Nazi publications which have promoted the claim for decades. An expert on right-wing propaganda, he detailed the instances that fueled the myth in a thread of posts on BlueSky, noting that conservative William F. Buckley was the lone exception, writing about it in a column. White South Africans, while victims of violence in the country, experience it far less than those who are Black.According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Afrikaners (who compose two-thirds of South Africa’s white population) possess half of South Africa’s land and produce 90% of its agricultural products, which amounted to be worth $13.7 billion in exports last year alone. Only 1% of white South Africans are in poverty as opposed to two-thirds of Black South Africans, due in large part to the historic system of apartheid in that nation which was abolished in 1994.When interviewed, some Afrikaners expressed their gratitude to Trump for the offer of resettlement but weren’t keen on going to the States. “But it’s good to know that [Trump] will back us … if sh*t happens,” farmer Maritz Gobler said. He also nixed the idea proposed by one Trump official that it would be easier for them to assimilate. “I don’t want to speak English for the rest of my life,” he said, highlighting that most Afrikaners primarily speak Afrikaans, a version of Dutch influenced by the indigenous peoples of Namibia and South Africa.
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President Donald Trump, already deeply aligned with South African native Elon Musk, made a curious move to invite white refugees to the United States. The move by President Donald Trump was criticized on X, with some noting the contradiction of the policy as it relates to other nationalities.
As reported by the BBC, the first of 49 white South Africans was en route to the United States over the weekend, with President Donald Trump addressing the matter on Monday (May 12). These Afrikaners, who are the minority in the African nation, claim that they’re being targeted and harmed by the Black majority and have made appeals to President Trump to obtain refugee status.
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South Africa’s Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola provided a statement to the press on Monday, saying that “there is no persecution of white Afrikaner South Africans” and pointed to police report data to decry the allegations. Further, the African nation was that the allegations of attacks against White South Africans would not meet the requirements under domestic and international refugee law.
During a press conference alongside Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump was asked by a reporter why he is allowing the white refugees a clear path but not doing so for other races of people.
“Because they’re being killed. And we don’t want to see people be killed,” Trump answered. “I have South Africa leadership coming to see me, I understand, sometime next week, and I guess we’re supposed to have a G20 meeting.
Trump continued, “I don’t know how we can go unless that situation’s taken care of. It’s a genocide taking place that you people don’t want to write about. Farmers are being killed. They happen to be white.”
The news of white South Africans being invited to the United States to seek refuge has caught fire on X, and we’ve got reactions below.
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Photo: Andrew Harnik / Getty
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President Donald Trump accused South Africa of “confiscating land” in a social media post and cut aid to them, prompting that country’s government to fire back with a denial.
The nation of South Africa is the latest target of President Donald Trump’s wrath, as he falsely attacked the country in a post on Truth Social Sunday night (Feb. 2). “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” he wrote, continuing by stating that he would be cutting off aid as a response: “I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa briskly denied the allegation in a post on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality. The South African government has not confiscated any land.”
https://x.com/CyrilRamaphosa/status/1886319401101910311
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Trump would repeat the claim to journalists, and allegations were echoed by his backer, tech billionaire Elon Musk (who was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971) who wrote in a post on X that South Africa had “openly racist ownership laws.” Musk, through his actions with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has already announced the shutdown of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), claiming it was a joint decision with Trump. David Sacks, the billionaire PayPal co-founder and Trump ally, also hails from South Africa.
Land ownership in South Africa has been a hotly contested issue for over a century since the British restricted Black ownership of land beginning in 1913 with the Natives Land Act, transferring large swaths of land to white settlers including, the Afrikaner community and confining Black people to townships and homelands. Currently, Black people (who compose 80% of the population) constitute 4% of landowners in South Africa, while three-quarters of the land is owned by whites who constitute 8% of the population.
Trump has spoken out about this issue before in his first term, but having Musk as a supporter suggests that he’s inclined to be more aggressive in cutting off aid. Members of the African National Congress, the ruling party in South Africa, have also pointed to the right-wing AfriForum group as having lobbied Trump and others in the U.S. AfriForum, who represents the Afrikaner population in South Africa, has fought for Ramaphosa to change the new law but has opposed Trump’s proposed removal of aid to the country.
Two new Whitney Houston projects are coming soon — both marking the 30th anniversary of three concerts the Grammy Award winner performed in South Africa in 1994. Arriving first: the limited worldwide theatrical release of Whitney Houston – The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban) set for Oct. 23 and 27. Coming Nov. 8: an accompanying live album, The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban), featuring the previously unreleased track “Love Is.”
Trafalgar Releasing and Sony Music Entertainment, in partnership with The Estate of Whitney E. Houston, The Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation and Primary Wave Music, are helming the release of the fully remastered concert film. It will appear in nearly 900 cinemas in more than 25 countries on Oct. 23 and 27. Legacy Recordings, Sony Music Entertainment’s catalog division, is issuing the live album.
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In a release announcing the news, Trafalgar Releasing CEO Marc Allenby stated, “We are pleased to continue our partnership with Sony Music and bring Whitney Houston’s legendary never-before-seen concert to audiences worldwide. The message of hope and unity from the Durban, South Africa performance is still as relevant today as it was 30 years ago, and fans are going to be blown away by how powerful this is on the big screen.”
Watch the trailer:
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The projects stem from a trio of Houston performances in South Africa in November 1994, which made her one of the first major U.S. stars to perform in the post-apartheid nation following Nelson Mandela’s history-making election to president. The three shows took place in Durban at Kings Park Stadium (Nov. 8), in Johannesburg at Ellis Park Stadium (also known as Emirates Airline Park) (Nov. 12) and in Cape Town at Green Point Stadium (Nov. 19), drawing a combined 200,000-plus attendees. At the time, a portion of the proceeds from the three shows benefited various local South African children’s charities through Houston’s foundation.
“I know that Whitney would have been filled with joy to know that this concert film will be released around the world to her fans,” commented Pat Houston, the film’s executive producer and executor of The Estate of Whitney E. Houston. “She loved South Africa; she loved the people and she loved Nelson Mandela. This concert is one of the most consequential concerts of her career. We’re thrilled that we can release this film not only to her fans, but to the people of South Africa and its new generation. More importantly, Whitney would be happy to know that her foundation continues to support one of the organizations she helped to provide financial support to 30 years ago.”
Whitney Houston — The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban), a production of Cream Cheese films and distributed by Sony Music Vision, was directed and produced by Marty Callner. “Whitney was a dream to work with; I really loved her,” said Callner. “I directed her several times, but the Durban show was pure magic and the best performance I have ever witnessed. So thrilled the world finally gets to experience that special, special night.”
In addition to the previously unreleased “Love Is,” the live album also features memorable hits by the six-time Grammy winner including “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “How Will I Know,” “I Have Nothing,” “Greatest Love of All” and “I Will Always Love You.” Rounding out the selections are classics such as “Amazing Grace” and “Home.” The album is available for preorder on both CD and vinyl here.
Emmy Award winner Rickey Minor, Houston’s musical director for 25 years, noted, “Performing in Durban with Whitney was an amazing experience. It was my first time in South Africa, and I don’t think that I was truly prepared for how this trip would change me forever. The energy was electric, and the audience was incredible as we celebrated the end of apartheid. Whitney shared her love and shined her light.”
Whitney Houston — The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban)
Neal Preston/Courtesy of The Estate of Whitney E. Houston
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Tyla, a rising South African singer with one of this year’s biggest hits, is known as coloured in her homeland, a term that is widely used to describe people of mixed heritage. In the United States, the term “colored” has a checkered racist past, thus sparking an unnecessary debate between the nations on social media.
Tyla, 21, is riding the wave of her massive hit “Water,” which has sparked dancing trends, covers from other artists, and an interest in what the Johannesburg native will do next. With the rise of the song and Tyla’s ethnicity becoming a topic of discussion, the term coloured has struck a nerve among some of the singer’s stateside fans.
Based on our quick study of the term, coloured South Africans are a wide tapestry of mixed races that include groups from Asia, Europe, and Africa. Further, coloured is seen as a racial classification in South Africa simply meant to designate those individuals who are both not white or from one of the aboriginal groups across Africa.
The current debate over the term isn’t new. Since the rise of Tyla’s “Water” single and American fans learning more about the artist, some were shocked to learn that coloured was an actual thing in modern times. During times of slavery, “colored” was an attempt to otherize Black slaves and spread further division.
This discussion is playing out again on X, formerly Twitter, with some American fans stating that Tyla should be referred to as Black while others from her country are pushing back to say that her choice to be seen as coloured should be respected.
The back-and-forth over Tyla and the word coloured is still bubbling although we’re still struggling to see why. That said, we’ve got reactions from all sides below.
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Photo: @tyla / Instagram
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Would you look at that? Nuance!
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