‘We know no other home’ – Afrikaners defy Ramaphosa’s insult

Cape Town – Lobby group AfriForum has strongly criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for calling 49 White Afrikaners who recently resettled in the US “cowards.”

Ramaphosa, speaking at the Nampo Harvest Festival, suggested the group fled South Africa due to dissatisfaction with the country’s transformation efforts, labelling their emigration as a “cowardly act.”

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel responded, accusing Ramaphosa of insulting Afrikaners instead of addressing the real reasons behind their emigration, such as unaddressed calls for violence (like the “Kill the Boer” chant), and discriminatory legislation like the BELA and Expropriation Acts.

“Instead of insulting those who choose to leave the country, @PresidencyZA Ramaphosa should rather take responsibility for his own complicity in the fact that there are Afrikaners who want to emigrate. 

Instead of insulting those who choose to leave the country, @PresidencyZA Ramaphosa should rather take responsibility for his own complicity in the fact that there are Afrikaners who want to emigrate.

Ramaphosa alienates many Afrikaners through, among other things, his continued… pic.twitter.com/Fhd1EGfUgR

— Kallie Kriel (@kalliekriel) May 14, 2025

“Ramaphosa alienates many Afrikaners through, among other things, his continued refusal to condemn calls for violence against Afrikaners, such as “Kill the Boer,” as well as through his signing of the anti-Afrikaans BELA Act and the Expropriation Act. It is also his government’s discriminatory racial legislation and draconian race-based regulations that directly contribute to the alienation of minority communities.

Although AfriForum does not support the “white genocide” narrative used by some US politicians, Kriel maintains the group has legitimate safety and discrimination concerns.

Despite this, he affirmed AfriForum’s commitment to ensuring a future for Afrikaners and minorities in South Africa.