The first group of white South Africans granted refugee status under a Trump-era initiative boarded a charter flight to the United States from Johannesburg on Sunday evening.
At the departure terminal, dozens of passengers queued quietly with cellophane-wrapped luggage, preparing for a journey that has stirred political tensions across two continents.
South African transport department spokesperson Collen Msibi confirmed that 49 individuals had been cleared for travel after thorough vetting to ensure no pending criminal charges.
The flight was scheduled to land at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., before continuing to Texas, though it had not yet taken off as of 8:30 p.m. local time.
Journalists were denied access to the refugees, whose identities and personal circumstances remain undisclosed for privacy and security reasons.
The programme, championed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, has drawn fierce debate, particularly as his administration simultaneously restricted refugee admissions for non-white applicants.
In defending the policy, Trump argued that Afrikaners — white descendants of Dutch settlers — were facing racial persecution and deserved protection.
Critics in South Africa and abroad see it differently, accusing Trump of exploiting racial tensions for political gain and misunderstanding the country’s complex post-apartheid dynamics.
Three decades after apartheid’s fall, white South Africans retain a disproportionate share of land and wealth, with whites owning roughly 75% of private farmland.
Though rarely impacted by unemployment, claims of discrimination against whites have gained traction in far-right circles, amplified by figures like Elon Musk.
South African officials have dismissed the refugee policy as interference in domestic affairs, calling it both misguided and inflammatory.
As the plane prepared for takeoff, it carried more than luggage — it bore the weight of a divisive narrative reshaping two nations’ political discourse.