70,000 South Africans Show Interest in Relocating to US After Offer to Afrikaner Community

About 70,000 South Africans have shown interest in relocating to the United States after the US extended an offer to resettle individuals from the Afrikaner community.

The South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA said its website received tens of thousands of registrations from those seeking more information, adding that it has handed the list of interested individuals to the US embassy in Pretoria.

U.S President, Donald Trump, had in February, signed an executive order, stating that Afrikaners – descendants of mainly Dutch settlers who arrived in the 17th Century, could be admitted as refugees as they were what he described as victims of unjust racial discrimination.

Tensions between South Africa and the US spiked in January, when South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law, a bill allowing the state to seize land without compensation, provided it was in the public interest.