Transport dept facilitates controversial flight for Afrikaners seeking refuge in US

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Cape Town – South Africa’s Department of Transport has confirmed it is facilitating a single chartered flight scheduled to depart on Sunday, carrying a group of Afrikaners seeking refugee status in the United States — part of a controversial resettlement plan backed by US President Donald Trump.

Transport Department spokesperson Collen Msibi said the permit for the foreign-operated flight had been granted following an application outlining the service type, route, and purpose of travel.

“We are simply just facilitating the permit for the Afrikaners to be transported to the US,” Msibi told eNCA.

He added that the final list includes 49 passengers, although the number may change due to a vetting process.

“The permit has conditions. Anyone with a pending criminal case, for instance, will not be allowed to leave the country,” Msibi said.

The vetting is being carried out by the Department of Home Affairs, the Border Management Authority, and the South African Police Service.

“Depending on how the vetting goes, it might be that not all the 49 would be going,” he said.

According to a Reuters report published Friday, the Trump administration aims to welcome this first group of white South Africans via its refugee program as soon as next week.

Three unnamed sources said the group would land at Washington Dulles International Airport, take part in a press conference, and then disperse to different US states.

Some plan to settle in traditionally conservative states like Idaho and Alabama, while others are heading to Democratic-leaning Minnesota, known for accepting large numbers of refugees, the report said.

The resettlement move comes despite Trump’s earlier suspension of most refugee admissions. In February, however, Trump called for prioritising Afrikaner resettlement, citing claims of racial discrimination against the white minority in South Africa.

Critics, including the South African government, have strongly rejected the claims and the broader political messaging behind the initiative.

“It is most regrettable that it appears that the resettlement of South Africans to the United States under the guise of being ‘refugees’ is entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy,” said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in a statement.

The government has stressed the new law only allows authorities to expropriate property without compensation in the public interest compensation and after efforts had been made to reach a fair agreement with the owner.

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