A Celebration of an Afrikaner Icon Belies Trump’s Genocide Claim
Afrikaners rank among wealthiest South Africans, hold top posts.
A couple wave the old South African flag at an event at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria.
Photographer: Lourens Reyneke
On a warm spring day, more than 6,000 Afrikaners marked the 200th birthday of apartheid-nationalist icon Paul Kruger within sight of the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the seat of South Africa’s Black-majority government.
The authorities made no attempt to halt or interfere with the peaceful celebration where memorabilia commemorating Afrikaner rule was on open display, just one signal that belies claims the minority group is being persecuted. Those include US President Donald Trump’s assertion that White Afrikaner farmers are being subjected to genocide, a falsehood that’s sparked outrage among South Africans and soured relations between the two nations.