A group of white South Africans landed on US soil this week, stepping off a plane as the first arrivals in a controversial immigration scheme backed by President Donald Trump.
The initiative, which has stunned South Africa's government and sparked global debate, is being portrayed by the Trump administration as a humanitarian response to alleged threats facing Afrikaners - a claim South African officials reject as fantasy, as per BusinessTech .
Trump, now in his second term, has repeatedly claimed that white citizens in South Africa are being 'dispossessed' of their land and has vowed to offer them refuge. Critics say the president is stoking racial tensions and relying on false narratives that have been dismissed by international observers.
Adding fuel to the fire is Elon Musk - the billionaire entrepreneur who grew up in South Africa - who has echoed fringe theories on social media, including claims of a 'white genocide', a notion widely debunked but popular in far-right circles.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa isn't amused. In public remarks this week, he described the group leaving for the US as 'not refugees', but individuals resistant to South Africa's evolving democratic landscape.