One of the 49 so-called “Afrikaner refugees”, English-speaking Errol Langton, not only identified as an Afrikaner to book his seat on the flight Stateside but also denied the very alleged white genocide he and his fellow passengers are claiming to flee in a tweet he posted the same month that he applied to go to the US.
In February US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to expedite the passage of “white Afrikaner farmers” into the US refugee system. Trump claimed the Afrikaner population of South Africa were the victims of a genocide. The wording on the refugee application was later changed to reflect “minorities”.
In the same month, Langton retweeted a tweet by Neil de Beer of the United Independent Movement and commented: “It is insane that the rhetoric in mainstream media and the extremists keep saying white farmers are being murdered. ALL SOUTH AFRICANS are getting MURDERED!!! Over 25,000 people a YEAR the horror is real for everyone. #UIMSouthAfrica @realDonaldTrump @elonmusk.”
Two days later Langton shared the details of a live discussion by De Beer and more Langton comments followed. This time, Langton said: “South Africans live in fear every day, regardless of race. Come listen to Neil de Beer discuss this live.”
This time, Langton tagged @elonmusk, @realDonaldTrump, @WillemPetzer and @UIMSouthAfrica.
This denial of the claimed genocide did not prevent the Langton family from applying for US refugeeship in the same month.
On Wednesday, Langton replied cryptically in reply to WhatsApped comment requests on his tweets. “Look back to the Holocaust, it can be true for a genocide to exist while others are persecuted as well. All South Africans are suffering, but I do believe that there is a white Genocide happening. Killing is just one mechanism used,” Langton said.
He did not reply to further messages.
On Saturday, however, Langton told the Sunday Times that he “identifies as an Afrikaner”.
“My wife is from Afrikaans stock. I also initially spoke Afrikaans, but over time we made a decision to raise our children in English. This would give them access to more opportunities in the business world,” said Langton from an entry-level hotel in Alabama in the US.
Langton “worked and owned a business in IT for 30 years”.
“We lived on a small farm in Henley-on-Klip. I operated a nursery and sold greenery from the farm. I had to close after I was threatened by people who claimed they were from the government,” he said.
“I did my bit in Henley. I served on the CPF [community policing forum] and was active in the civil society space. I was attacked and stabbed on the farm and eventually we just couldn’t take it any more and we moved to Hibberdene in KwaZulu-Natal.”
It was from there that Langton applied for the US refugee programme in February.
“There is no US consulate in KwaZulu-Natal so we had to drive to Pretoria three times for interviews. We applied in February and heard in March that we had been accepted to go to the next stage,” Langton said.
How tough was the vetting? “They knew a lot about all of us. They checked all our past numbers and our social media.”
Did the Langtons have time to pack their belongings?
“Look, once medicals are done you have six months, but they [the US] were trying to expedite it and get some people out. After the medicals and all that were done, you had six months to leave, but we opted for the first flight out as soon as they gave us the opportunity.”
The family sold some possessions, but not their property.
“We kind of left and went. We are essentially refugees, so we took what we could. Packed a suitcase each and we went with that,” Langton said.
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