The South African government said on Friday that the US decision to accept Afrikaners as refugees is concerning and disregards South Africa’s own “constitutional processes.”

The statement released by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation noted that the determination by the US president that there is a “white genocide” happening in South Africa is “factually inaccurate,” discredited by “reliable evidence.”

The government cited an open letter from “prominent members of the Afrikaner community” as evidence against the genocide claim. According to the letter, the US government’s narrative of Afrikaners being victims of racial persecution is misleading and distorts historical realities, particularly because it is fueled by the right-wing “Great Replacement” theory.

The letter acknowledged that South Africa faces “serious challenges” related to crime, inequality, and “an enduring legacy of apartheid,” but noted that these issues pertain to all races.

In February, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing government agencies to suspend aid to South Africa and create pathways for Afrikaner refugees to resettle in the US. According to the order, South Africa’s Expropriation Act 13 of 2024 violates property rights based on race-based discrimination against the white Afrikaner minority.

The Expropriation Act 13 of 2024 allows the state to seize private agricultural land without compensation in circumstances where it is “just and equitable and in the public interest” to do so, if the land is not being used, or if activities on the land pose a danger to others.

With the majority of agricultural land owned by the white Afrikaner minority, the law has caused much controversy, including severe criticism by Elon Musk. Proponents, however, say that the law addresses historical injustices and the failure of the state to distribute land equitably in the post-apartheid decades.

In May of this year, the Trump administration welcomed several white Afrikaners seeking asylum in the US, following claims that they were being threatened with property seizure and accusations of genocide by the US government.