ANC hails ‘Not In Our Name’ Afrikaners for rejecting ‘white genocide’ narrative
The Not In Our Name group, comprising prominent Afrikaners, has stood up against US far-right narratives, earning praise from the ANC.
A collective of nearly 50 well-known Afrikaans-speaking South Africans, including academics, clerics and journalists like Max du Preez, recently penned an open letter titled Not In Our Name: Afrikaners Respond to the Misuse of Their Story in US Politics, to reject the notion of “white genocide” being peddled by United States President Donald Trump.
The controversy arose after the Trump administration facilitated a “refugee resettlement programme” offering preferential status specifically to white Afrikaner farmers. The Not In Our Name group expressed concern over the “hijacking of our identity by ethnic fringe groups” and strongly objected to being used as “pawns in America’s culture wars”.
They firmly rejected the narrative that casts Afrikaners as victims of racial persecution in post-apartheid South Africa. The signatories warned that this “framing”, often used to support the far-right “Great Replacement” theory in the US, is not only misleading but also dangerous.
They argued that the narrative distorts realities, weaponises history and “reduces a complex social context and necessary levelling of playing fields into a simplistic symbol of white decline”. They maintained that vulnerability – not race – should guide humanitarian refugee policy.
ANC commends group for rejecting ‘white genocide’
The African National Congress (ANC) swiftly and publicly welcomed and “salute[d] the courageous stance” taken by the Not In Our Name Afrikaners. The ANC noted with appreciation the “clear rejection of attempts to distort South Africa’s history and weaponise it to advance far-right agendas abroad”.
The party affirmed that this declaration supported the unity required for building a non-racial, democratic, and prosperous South Africa. The ANC highlighted that true patriotism involves “facing the truth and building bridges of understanding,” rather than attempting to deny the “lived unequal realities of our people”.
The ANC reiterated that the transformation and redress agenda is not merely an act of charity, but a “moral, legal, and constitutional obligation” necessary to correct centuries of historic wrongs and inequality.
They commended the group for asserting their identity as citizens of a free South Africa, committed to grappling with the past while striving for a better, equitable future. The ANC urged all South Africans, including those once privileged by the apartheid regime, to join hands to complete the unfinished business of liberation.
Slow start to relocation
Despite the US administration reserving seats for Afrikaner “refugees” in commercial flights, reports indicated that the initiative had a slow start, with only a small number of people actually relocating under the priority plan.
Political analysts praised the group for actively dismantling the “false narrative of white persecution” often peddled by international far-right groups.