Peet and Melany Viljoen during an interview on 13 January 2023 in Pretoria, South Africa. In March 2026 the couple were arrested on shoplifting allegations in the US. (Photo: Gallo Images / Rapport / Deon Raath) Peet and Melany Viljoen have gushed over US President Donald Trump – they support him because, in their view, he’s getting things right and saying it as it is.
Amplifying the lie that white Afrikaner people in South Africa are being persecuted? Check.
Offering refuge to those purportedly fleeing the tip of the African continent because they say they’re being targeted and their land is being yanked from them? Check.
Overzealously cracking down on illegal immigrants and sundry to “Make America Great Again”? Eish…
Flipped script
It now seems that Peet and Melany, who relocated from SA to the US last year, were a little too overenthusiastic about their Trump fervour, which is showcased in all its glory on their social media accounts.
Their actions (or performances, if you will) have flipped their script.
As of this week, the couple who, a few months ago, seemed to be living their American dream, are in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention.
/file/attachments/orphans/ED_420534_630939.jpg "Melany and Peet Viljoen arrive at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on 14 November 2022 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Beeld / Deaan Vivier)")
This is because they were arrested last week on shoplifting-style criminal charges, and may have been in America unlawfully. The Viljoens now face potential deportation back to (in their probable view, horror of horrors) South Africa.
A quick synopsis.
Peet has tried to style himself as something of a celebrity-esque lawyer despite reportedly being disbarred in SA more than a decade ago.
He is a confirmed racist.
One of his lines, filmed for a Facebook video, is: “I think black people in SA are inferior to white people.”
And in a social media display from October, showing that he’s familiar with the comedy genre, Peet told followers that the Supreme Court, presumably of SA, “ruled me to be the most honest lawyer that SA has ever seen [...] like I’m literally the smartest lawyer they have ever met.”
Melany’s claim to attempted fame is that she previously featured on the reality show The Real Housewives of Pretoria. (She has this in common with Trump, who also once starred in a reality show, The Apprentice.)
It seems to be an extension of the American franchise.
Fiction about SA
Melany and Peet are now the main characters in a reality that they have produced – an epic series of events stretching across countries.
Based on news articles, it’s garnering an international audience. While in SA, the couple faced controversies, including money and legal issues.
One of these involved the US Tammy Taylor Nails corporation.
The Viljoens partnered with it, but when this ended, they continued representing the brand without authorisation, and this culminated in a lawsuit.
They have been outspoken about SA. Both Peet and Mel falsely claimed there is a white genocide in this country.
Illustrating Melany’s enamourment with Trump is that she linked his Facebook profile to a post of hers, saying, in part: “The opposite of apartheid is active in South Africa!!”
A video posted to Peet’s Facebook page also shows her saying that Trump was “right about everything”.
While she seemed to be specifically referring to Trump’s disinformation that white Afrikaner people in SA are being persecuted, she has clearly backed him.
So too has Peet.
These are among the reasons they cited for moving to America.
The real reality of the Viljoens
Daily Maverick previously reported that they were arrested there in Florida on Tuesday, 10 March 2026, for allegedly shoplifting from a Publix supermarket.
The following day, they made their first court appearance in Palm Beach.
They are expected back in the dock there on 9 April, and an “initial case conference” was set down for 30 April.
/file/attachments/orphans/untitled-design-69b18eb118141_307385.jpg "Peet and Melany Vijoen. (Photo: WPBF25)")
A document that Peet signed, dated 11 March, said he has “0” dependents and that “I have a take home income of 0 dollars”.
Melany, according to a US police officer, said she had shoplifted because she was in “survival mode” and was unable to work there due to visa issues.
The couple are “prohibited from being within 500 feet of” all Publix stores until the case against them concludes. But it seems unlikely they’ll be headed to any supermarkets soon because they are now detained in ICE facilities.
Plot twist
Under Trump’s administration, ICE activities have become highly controversial, with repeat reports of unlawful operations.
In other words, Trump has taken an overtly harsh stance on immigration matters.
Last week, the very same week the Viljoens were detained, the US’ Deputy Assistant Secretary for Media Relations, Lauren Bis, said: “Under President Trump, if you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you and arrest you. The safety of the American people comes FIRST.”
/file/attachments/orphans/p20250701dt-0613_54626265007_o_649250.jpeg "US President Donald Trump on a tour of an immigration facility dubbed Alligator Alcatraz in Florida in 2025. (Photo: The White House)")
This comment, with a few tweaks and bearing in mind Peet and Melany may have entered the US illegally, can now almost be applied directly to this season of the Viljoens.
On Tuesday, 17 March 2026, another US government statement about ICE arrests reiterated: “Under President Trump, if you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you and arrest you.
“There is nothing that will stop ICE from putting American families, American children, and American lives FIRST.”
Aspirant Americans suspected of shoplifting are not necessarily included in that – being put first.
Lights, cameras, detention
Just a few months ago, in October, Peet, in his self-styled capacity as a legal broker in America, confidently gave advice on immigration specifically geared towards fellow Afrikaners.
He explained, in a video posted to his Facebook page, that he was in Palm Beach, where “my friend Donald Trump” lives.
Peet told his followers that if they don’t have money, they can sign up for the US’ “refugee” programme.
(This is Trump’s project aimed at white Afrikaners in SA who purport to be persecuted.)
“I promise you,” he says, “a sh*t day in America is better than the best day in SA.”
/file/attachments/orphans/p20250701dt-0654_54627346779_o_814675.jpeg "US President Donald Trump tours the ICE facility known as Alligator Alcatraz in Florida in 2025. (Photo: The White House)")
As of this week, Melany was in a US ICE detention facility, the Broward Transitional Center.
Peet was being detained in a facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”.
Human rights organisations have flagged alleged abuses and violations at both. This is serious.
But it may be of some comfort, potentially of the cold kind, to Peet that his “friend” Trump visited Alligator Alcatraz last year, thereby giving it his nod of approval. DM