What constitutes genocide? A look at Afrikaners' claims

This week, more than 40 Afrikaners took a step towards a new life in the 'land of opportunity', accepting an offer from US President Donald Trump to immigrate to the United States.

This move follows the granting of refugee status by the US government. In February, President Trump signed an executive order that paved the way for Afrikaners from South Africa to seek resettlement in the US.

The reasons behind this mass exodus (or the Groot Tsek as social media users call it) are compelling. Many Afrikaners cite violence and genocide, driven by the colour of their skin. Reports of farm attacks and an overall sense of insecurity have pushed them to seek refuge in the US.

Trump claimed that "very bad things" were happening in SA, insisting that there was genocide taking place in the country.

Interestingly enough, this echoes what South African-born tech billionaire, Elon Musk said in 2023, when he took to X (formerly Twitter) and accused the EFF of ‘openly pushing for genocide of white people in South Africa’. 

So in light of the very serious allegation, we take a look at what genocide is and what it entails.

What is and what isn’t classified as a genocide?

According to the United Nations, genocide is an internationally recognised crime where crimes and acts are committed with the clear intent to destroy - whether it is in whole or in part - a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, as such:

• Killing members of the group;
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
• Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
• Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

It is also worth noting that several serious and violent crimes do not fall under the definition of genocide.

These may include horrible crimes such as crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and mass killings.

To constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the part of perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. This means that cultural destruction does not count, nor does an intention to simply disperse a group. 

What makes it different from other killings so to speak is that the victims of genocide are deliberately targeted - not randomly – because of their real or perceived membership of one of the four groups protected under the Convention (which excludes political groups, for example). This means that the target of destruction must be the group, as such, and not its members as individuals. 

Examples of genocide include but are not limited to: The Rwanda genocide, the Holocaust and the atrocities against the Palestinian people. 

What about claims of being a refugee?

Who is a refugee is defined in international law. The 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as a person who "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of [their] nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail [themself] of the protection of that country." 

Refugees are people forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as a result of who they are, what they believe in or say, or because of armed conflict, violence or serious public disorder.

Examples of refugees include but are not limited to: Sudanese refugees, Rohingya refugees (Myanmar) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) refugees.

What does South Africa say about the genocide claims?

Department of International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Ronald Lamola, said the notion being peddled, that Afrikaners are being persecuted in South Africa, is false.

SA Deputy President Paul Mashatile has further invited Trump to visit SA.

"There’s no genocide here. We are beautiful, happy people. Black and White working, and living together," Mashatile said, speaking on the sidelines of the Africa Travel Indaba in KwaZulu-Natal. 

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