The Great Tsek – Citizens react to Afrikaner refugees

by Nomonde Simelane

Politically, South Africa can be described as a knife in Afrikaans(mes), as mzansi deals with a plethora of issues. Currently, at the top of the list is the migration of 49 Afrikaners who have sought refuge in the United States, aka ‘The Great Tsek’.

The beginning of 2025, shortly after Donald Trump was elected as the 47th President of the United States of America, was marked by increased tensions between South Africa and the U.S. This came after the Trump administration condemned the South African government for its complacency in what they deemed the genocide or targeting of white Afrikaner farmers, and consequently offered he U.S as a place of asylum for them, despite deporting black and brown immigrants.

In response, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the SAn government rejected these claims, labelling them as a false narrative, and opting for a diplomatic approach which offered to engage with Trump’s administration to accurately educate them about South Africa’s political climate.

South African citizens, on the other hand, did not take kindly to this and have made use of social media to counter Trump’s narrative and give what they believe is a more accurate portrayal of mzansi’s race relations. These users have highlighted factors such as the white population disproportionately owning a majority of the land, despite being a minority, as well as the glaring income gap.

Recently, 49 white Afrikaners took up Trump’s offer of asylum and packed their lives to seek refuge in the land of the free, escaping the alleged genocide. Interestingly, the public, who have consistently opposed the notion of a white genocide, have found humour in the initiative becoming a reality, and have not held back in humorously coming up with different scenarios of how this will play out, basing it on their knowledge and experience with white, Afrikaner South Africans.

As South Africans have garnered a reputation for finding humour even in the most serious situations, these users have dubbed this migration ‘The Great Tsek’, which is great word play on the historic Great Trek, which is a significant part of their Boer ancestors’ history.

According to these users, the 49 Afrikaners are about to realise that they had it good and easy in South Africa, as they are about to replace the cheap labour that the black and brown immigrants who were deported.

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