A South African politician is seeking asylum in the United States despite the absence of proven persecution.

A South African politician from the Afrikaner community has applied for asylum in the United States under the program established by the president's administration. Donald Trump to welcome white South Africans claiming to be victims of discrimination or persecution.

SJ Du Venage, provincial councillor for the Freedom Front Plus party in the Western Cape province, explains that his decision is motivated by long-standing fears about the future of Afrikaners in South Africa.

Aged 56, he claims to have grown up in an environment where people feared the consequences of the end of apartheid for the white minority. According to him, these concerns persist today, even though he acknowledges that he did not personally suffer mistreatment.

This request comes as Donald Trump has been claiming for several months that Afrikaners are subject to racial persecution in South Africa and wants to expand the opportunities for this community to settle in the United States.

The South African government firmly rejects these accusations. Pretoria maintains that there is no evidence of a policy of institutional discrimination or targeted violence against white South Africans.

According to Reuters, available data does not show that white South Africans are at a higher risk of violence than other population groups. Allegations made by Donald Trump, particularly regarding mass land expropriations and state-sponsored violence, have been disputed or refuted by authorities and several independent analyses.

The case of Du Venage nevertheless illustrates the persistent divisions within South African society more than thirty years after the end of apartheid. While some members of the Afrikaner minority express fears of future marginalization, the authorities emphasize that the country remains a multiracial democracy where rights are guaranteed by the Constitution.

This issue continues to fuel diplomatic tensions between Washington and Pretoria, as the South African government accuses the Trump administration of spreading a distorted view of the situation in the country.