49 white South Africans leave for US under Trump refugee program

Johannesburg: A group of 49 white South Africans granted refugee status under a program initiated by USPresident Donald Trump departed OR Tambo Intern...

Johannesburg: A group of 49 white South Africans granted refugee status under a program initiated by US President Donald Trump departed OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Sunday night for the United States, the South African Department of Transport confirmed on Monday.

"It departed at around 1030 last night, and we had to issue a permit for a chartered flight," Collen Msibi, national spokesperson for the department, told Xinhua over the phone.

When asked whether this was the only charter application for the refugees going to the United States that the transport department had issued, he confirmed that it was the only one.

It has been reported that upon their arrival in Washington, the 49 individuals would meet with Trump government officials and that a media briefing would be held.

Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, told a South African Broadcasting Corporation radio station that they were aware of the departure of the white South Africans, sometimes referred to as Afrikaners -- the group with the longest history among white settlers in South Africa and comprising the bulk of the white population.