Some white South Africans living abroad are choosing to return home, citing lower living costs, family ties and political turmoil in countries like the US and parts of Europe. The trend challenges claims that whites face widespread persecution in South Africa, even as crime and unemployment remain major concerns.
Andrew Veitch left SA after being held up at gunpoint in his car. But now he feels there are greater threats in the US, he said, citing mass shootings in public places as well as violence by US immigration officers.
"People are being shot in broad daylight. American citizens are being shot and killed," said the 53-year-old, who moved to California in 2003. "I don't want to live in a place like this."
US President Donald Trump's officials have said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were justified in firing the shots that killed two US citizens in January, although video evidence has contradicted their accounts.
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Veitch plans to return to SA this year, one of thousands of white South Africans coming back, despite Trump's statements that the white minority is being persecuted by the country's black majority government.
Pretoria says there is no evidence of discrimination or persecution against whites. Many have left since the end of white minority rule in 1994, some citing crime and difficulty getting jobs, but many are also returning.
Veitch is among 12,000 people who have checked their citizenship status in an online portal launched by the government in November after the overturning of...
