First white South Africans fly to US under Trump refugee plan

By Tim Cocks

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The archetypal 49 achromatic South Africans deemed victims of radical favoritism and granted exile presumption nether an connection by U.S. President Donald Trump were flying to the U.S. connected Monday successful a determination deepening frictions betwixt the 2 nations.

The U.S. authorities has blocked mostly non-white exile admissions from the remainder of the satellite but is prioritising Afrikaners, the descendants of mostly Dutch settlers.

Giving exile presumption to achromatic South Africans has been met with a substance of alarm and ridicule by South African authorities, who accidental the Trump medication has waded into a home governmental contented it does not understand.

It comes astatine a clip of heightened radical tensions successful South Africa implicit onshore and jobs that has divided the ruling coalition.

The charter level carrying the 49 from Johannesburg was expected to get astatine Washington Dulles airdrome connected Monday morning.

"The authorities unequivocally states that these are not refugees," South African overseas ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told section broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.

"But we are not going to basal successful their way."

WEALTH INEQUITIES

Since Nelson Mandela brought ideology into South Africa successful the 1994, the once-ruling achromatic number has retained astir of the wealthiness amassed nether colonialism and apartheid.

Whites inactive ain three-quarters of backstage onshore and person astir 20 times the wealthiness of the Black majority, according to planetary world diary the Review of Political Economy.

Less than 10% of achromatic South Africans are retired of work, compared with much than a 3rd of their Black counterparts.

Yet the assertion that number achromatic South Africans look favoritism from the Black bulk has go an established trope successful right-wing online chatrooms, and has been echoed by Trump's achromatic South African-born state Elon Musk.

Since his instrumentality to the White House successful January, Trump has chopped each U.S. fiscal assistance to South Africa past month, citing disapproval of its onshore argumentation and of its genocide lawsuit astatine the International Court of Justice against Washington's ally, Israel.

(Reporting by Tim Cocks; Additional reporting by Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)