The recent surge in H-2A visas issued to South African farm workers, who are predominantly white, and Donald Trump’s executive order prioritising the resettlement of Afrikaners as refugees underscore the complex and often problematic nature of US engagement with South Africa. Picture: Tracey Adams/African News Agency (ANA)
By Siyabonga Hadebe
The United States has long positioned itself as a global champion of human rights, democracy and economic opportunity. However, its policies and decisions concerning South Africa, particularly regarding its white minority, have often been fraught with contradictions, suspicions and unintended consequences.
From the apartheid era through the post-1994 democratic transition, Washington’s involvement in South Africa has frequently exacerbated racial tensions and economic disparities. The recent surge in H-2A visas issued to South African farm workers, who are predominantly white, and Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) prioritising the resettlement of Afrikaners as refugees underscore the complex and often problematic nature of US engagement with South Africa.
The US has a complicated history with South Africa, particularly during the apartheid era. Washington maintained economic and political ties with the regime and prioritised Cold War alliances over human rights. This duality allowed Washington to project itself as a moral leader while quietly supporting a system that oppressed the majority black population.
After 1994, the US has been supporting the new democratic government, but its policies have continued to fuel racial and economic tensions, particularly concerning its preference for white people in South Africa. One of the most striking examples of this is the H-2A visa programme, which enables South African farm workers, predominantly white, to work seasonally on US farms.
In the fiscal year ending September 2023, the US issued 15 159 H-2A visas to South African workers, a 19% increase from the previous year. While this programme ostensibly addresses labour shortages in the US agricultural sector, it has unintended consequences for South Africa and the American South.
Established in 1986, the H-2A programme allows US employers to hire foreign workers for temporary agricultural jobs. Employers must cover flights, housing, and food and pay a premium hourly wage. While this initiative has provided a lifeline for white South African farm workers, it also fuels tensions in the American South, where the majority of these workers are employed.
In Mississippi, for instance, where more than 70% of the population is black, the influx of white South African farm workers has revived historical racial disparities. Lawsuits filed by black American workers allege that they were paid significantly less than their South African counterparts and were denied basic amenities such as access to indoor toilets.
Some claim they were forced to train their South African replacements, only to lose shifts when these recruits arrived. The Mississippi Center for Justice has brought several lawsuits on behalf of black workers, highlighting the racial and economic inequalities created by the H-2A programme.
Recognising these racial disparities, the Joe Biden administration in 2023 quietly approached South African officials with misgivings about the de facto white preference in the H-2A visa programme. The administration, having been confronted with growing domestic criticism over the programme’s racial bias, sought to alleviate tensions by exploring ways to diversify the South African labour pool entering the US.
However, these concerns have now been reversed by Trump’s return to power, with his administration explicitly embracing the preferential recruitment of white South Africans. His 2025 executive order, which froze aid to South Africa and prioritised the resettlement of Afrikaners as refugees, formalised what had long been an implicit racial bias within the H-2A programme.
Trump’s order cited South Africa’s Expropriation Act, which allows the state to seize land without compensation, as evidence of systemic discrimination against the white minority. The EO continues to spark intense debate, with critics arguing that it was based on misinformation and exaggerated claims of white victimhood.
Business leaders and civil society groups have warned of the potential economic and social consequences of a mass exodus of skilled agricultural professionals, which could undermine South Africa’s food security and economic stability.
This perspective conveniently overlooks the advantages that the H-2A programme bestows on white South Africans in areas like Mississippi. The UK-based Time Magazine claims: “White South African farmers are thriving in Mississippi… (but) they are also becoming entangled in an old southern story.”
Arguably, Trump’s executive order has verbalised the deep-rooted racial issues occurring within the US, where a muted Afrikaner migration, albeit temporary at this stage, is already taking place at the expense of black Americans. The H-2A programme has served as a de facto migration pipeline for white South Africans, reinforcing racial hierarchies in the US labour market.
Black farmworkers in the South, who have historically been among the most exploited and marginalised labourers in the country, now find themselves replaced by white foreigners who are given better pay, benefits and working conditions.
The EO and the broader controversy surrounding white South African farmers cannot be understood without considering the role of far-right narratives, both in South Africa and the US. Groups such as the Suidlanders and AfriForum have actively promoted the narrative of white victimhood, portraying white South Africans as targets of genocide and land grabs. These narratives have resonated with American white nationalist groups, who view South Africa as a cautionary tale that reflects their racial anxieties.
Simon Roche, a leader of the Suidlanders, has been instrumental in amplifying these narratives to gain international support. His tours of the US, where he met with conservative media figures and political leaders, have helped mainstream the idea that white South Africans face an existential threat.
This narrative was further reinforced by Trump’s 2018 tweet instructing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “closely study the South African land farm seizures and expropriations and large scale killing of farmers”. The current controversies merely roll out a movie script that has been operating over time.
The US involvement in South Africa, particularly concerning the white minority, raises critical questions about the role of foreign policy in addressing historical injustices. While the H-2A visa programme and Trump’s EO are presented as humanitarian measures, they have exacerbated racial and economic tensions in both South Africa and the US.
The black communities in these two nations are continuously being sunk deeper into a bottomless abyss of poverty and racial marginalisation.
By prioritising the resettlement of white South Africans, the Trump administration risks undermining efforts to redress the legacy of racial oppression, slavery and colonial apartheid as well as promote racial equality. Moreover, the reliance on foreign labour in the US agricultural sector highlights broader issues of economic inequality and racial discrimination, including the displacement of Mexican seasonal workers.
The Mexican worker now suffers from a double-layered exclusion, reinforced through Trump’s wall. Lawsuits in Mississippi and other states with high numbers of H-2A workers call for greater scrutiny of labour practices and the impact of immigration policies on local communities.
For centuries, the narratives of African people have been suppressed, distorted or erased by colonial and neo-colonial systems designed to perpetuate racial hierarchies and economic exploitation.
The dominance of Anglo-Saxon narratives has marginalised African perspectives, relegating them to the periphery of global discourse. This erasure has profound implications, not only for the cultural identity of Africans and the diaspora but also for the political and economic systems that continue to privilege certain groups at the expense of others.
Reclaiming these stories is an act of resistance and empowerment. It involves centering African histories, experiences and contributions in global conversations about justice, equality and human rights. It means challenging the myths of white supremacy and victimhood that underpin policies like the H-2A visa scheme and Trump’s EO, which prioritise the resettlement of white South Africans while ignoring the systemic inequalities faced by black communities in South Africa and the US.
In this context, it is imperative for Africans and the diaspora to raise the buried voices that have been silenced by centuries of Anglo-Saxon supremacy. The narrative of white victimhood and the preferential treatment of white South Africans in US policies are potent reminders of the systemic racism that continues to pervade global power structures.
Restoring African voices is not just a cultural imperative but a political necessity in a world where Anglo-Saxon supremacy continues to run on steroids.
The US has a long history of making controversial decisions regarding South Africa, often with significant consequences for the white minority. From the apartheid era to the post-1994 period, Washington’s policies have frequently inflamed racial tensions and economic disparities.
The H-2A visa programme and Trump’s executive order are the latest examples of how US involvement in South Africa can have harmful effects.
Siyayibanga le economy!
* Siyabonga Hadebe is an independent commentator on socio-economics, politics and global matters.
** The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Independent Media or IOL.