White SA Church leaders respond to Trump

More than 150 white South African Christian leaders have signed a statement rejecting claims by US President Donald Trump that white people are being victimised in South Africa.

The statement responds to Trump’s February 7 executive order withdrawing all US government to South Africa, citing of victimisation, violence and hateful rhetoric against white people in South Africa along with legislation providing for the expropriation of land without compensation, and South Africa’s criticism of Israel’s military action in Gaza.

“As white South Africans in active leadership within the Christian community, representing diverse political and theological perspectives, we unanimously reject these claims,” the statement said.

“We make this statement as white South Africans because these claims are being made about us and our experience in this place.  The narrative presented by the US government is founded on fabrications, distortions, and outright lies. It does not reflect the reality of our country and, if anything, serves to heighten existing tensions in South Africa,” it said.

“It also detracts from the important work of building safer, healthier communities and addressing the complex history of land dispossession by white Europeans from the black African majority.”

Devastation of communities

The Christian leaders said that “the sudden and immediate withdrawal of aid, particularly aid which supports our health systems, promises devastation for our communities. In particular, the support being withdrawn from South Africa disproportionately affects the HIV community who rely on antiretroviral medication […] As pastors, we know them as members of our congregations and communities.”

“As followers of the God of life, and of Jesus Christ whose ministry of healing has guided the work of the church over centuries, we must protest in the strongest possible terms where we see racial politics being weaponised in ways that will contribute to the early death for the poor and vulnerable, while serving the political agendas of the powerful.

Whites only 2% of murder victims

The Christian leaders noted that South Africa has endured immense violence over generations, continuing even today. However, they said, Trump’s narrative of “disproportionate violence” against white South Africans is in contrast the reality that black South Africans still face the worst of violence and oppression. Genocide Watch reports that while white South Africans make up about 8% of the population but account for less than 2% of murder victims.

They acknowledged that South Africa “has failed to effectively address the racial injustices of apartheid and colonialism”, but noted that one factor in this “is the sustained resistance by many white South Africans to initiatives that seek to meaningfully address the economic and land ownership consequences of these systems of racial oppression”.

“The resultant tensions thereof are now being weaponised for cheap political points in the USA,” the Christian leaders noted, also criticising “South African leaders, especially within the white community, who are using the deplorable actions and statements of the president of the United States of America and his supporters to serve the narrow needs of their local constituencies”.

The Christian leaders called on South Africans to “reconsider this dangerous political strategy” and instead focus on “working for a more just future in South Africa”.

The church leaders committed themselves to “pray and stand in solidarity with faith leaders in the United States of America who are called to be a voice for justice and peace in this turbulent time”. “We recognise that the actions of the government and business leaders of the USA will have a definite impact on the future of the entire globe and that faith communities are called to critical witness in a time such as this. In the same way that churches were called to commit to united work for justice during the dark days of apartheid, we commit to supporting the prophetic church in the USA as it works for justice in the weeks, months, and years to come.

• The full statement can be accessed at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mlM_eqihXjZBxdP0rHmNIbTW_MpFE02HxCv89hfqpPk/
• The statement can be signed at https://forms.gle/FKeNSaru1UPLro7AA