This interview was originally uploaded onto YouTube by Firstpost, under the same title, on 8 January 2026.

In a significant diplomatic shift, South Africa has reportedly agreed to stop interfering with a controversial US refugee programme targeting Afrikaners. The programme, a centrepiece of President Donald Trump’s Africa policy, stems from his widely contested claims of “white genocide” and systematic land seizures in South Africa.

While the SA government continues to dismiss these allegations as false, officials now state they will respect the right of citizens to migrate freely. This move follows a period of extreme bilateral tension, marked by a 30% US tariff on South African goods and South Africa’s exclusion from the upcoming G20 Summit in Miami.

Tensions peaked in late 2025 after South African authorities raided a US refugee centre in Johannesburg, arresting several staff members. With approximately 1,000 Afrikaners having relocated to the US since May 2025, SA’s new “non-interference” stance appears to be a strategic manoeuvre to repair fractured ties with the US.

When asked by Firstpost Africa about claims of “white genocide” in South Africa, ACMS’s Senior Researcher Professor Loren Landau replied:

“I think that everybody knows that those claims are absurd. I think most Americans know that they are absurd. And every South African, apart from a very small minority, believes that they are a ridiculous claim. I think most South Africans will see this as acquiescence to the United States in a certain way, but that the pragmatic principles behind it—that the need to promote trade, the need to create jobs, the need to maintain a good position in international affairs—far outweighs that we all know what’s going on here, and I think that will protect Ramaphosa from too many critics.”

Catch more of this interview below: