Sat, 8 March 2025

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that any South African farmer and their family wishing to “flee that country for reasons of safety” would be invited into the United States of America with a rapid pathway to citizenship, and that the process would begin immediately.

The announcement was made on Truth Social and follows an executive order relating to South Africa signed by the U.S. president on 7 February 2025.

The executive order contained little details about the refugee offer and organisations such as the South African Chamber of Commerce in the US (SACCUSA) saw a surge of enquiries from South African citizens.

The order followed South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent signing into law of the Expropriation Bill, which caused controversy in the country due to the inclusion of expropriation without compensation.

Ramaphosa said in a statement in early February that the government was looking forward to engaging with the Trump administration over land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest.

South African presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said “We are still hoping that President Trump will visit South Africa ahead of the G20 Summit when we get that final round of heads of state. It remains President Ramaphosa’s intention on a state visit.”

Ramaphosa has expressed an interest in discussing matters between the two countries over a game of golf, should the U.S. President visit South Africa.

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