After the US State Department asked South Africa to quickly track visas, and then asked South Africa to help deal with US African refugees, the Church’s World Service (CWS) was drawn into a diplomatic conflict.
The US refugee admissions program, run by the State Department, has been contracted to the CWS Resettlement Support Center in Nairobi to handle the process. In July, South Africa’s Home Ministry confirmed that it had received a visa application for a Kenyan staff, who is expected to be based in South Africa for two years.
The Trump administration’s designation of white South African refugees was firmly rejected by Pretoria. “Citizens of South Africa are not classified as refugees in any part of the world,” president’s spokesman Vincent Magwenia said earlier this year.
The CWS itself has expressed concern about the program. In May, CWS president and CEO Rick Santos said the group was “concerned” that the US government is “quickly tracking Africans’ entry.”
Still, he said, “The CWS remains committed to serving all eligible refugee groups seeking safety in the United States, including Africans eligible for services.
In June 2025, CWS was directly involved when the US refugee admissions program outsourced its African operations to RSC Africa, a Nairobi-based CWS division. Kenyans hired by RSC are currently tasked with helping applicants with the screening process.
However, this plan faces a major hurdle. The Daily Maverick of South Africa reported that Kenyan staff have applied for a volunteer visa. Volunteer visas are a category that explicitly requires applicants to receive “no paid paid for work done in South Africa” and means “all work must be free.” However, current CWS jobs in South Africa advertise salary positions and raises doubts about whether authorities need to bend visa rules.
Other faith-based organizations that have partnered with US refugee enrollment programs have expressed reservations on their decision to provide priority care to white Africans. The Anglican Church, through the President of Bishop Sean Lowe, announced that it had concluded its long-standing partnership with the US government on refugee resettlement. “It was painful to see a group of refugees selected in a very unusual way, but I have received priority treatment over the years over the refugee camps and many others who have been waiting in dangerous situations,” Lowe wrote to the congregation.
The evangelical Christian group World Relief expects it will help “a minority” of Afrikaner’s arrival, but said it is primarily urging the administration to resume a broader, traditional resettlement process for individuals who have escaped persecution from all backgrounds.
Africa’s resettlement plan lies within US-South African relations, and tensions have been heightened by US criticism of Pretoria’s domestic policies, such as Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and the Land Employment Act.
South African authorities are expected to decide to apply for a visa by late September or early October. This is a standard 8-week turnaround. It remains uncertain whether to approve volunteer visas for staff, where interior duties are expected to be in a paid role.
