Scant sympathy for ‘plight’ of Afrikaner ‘refugees’ at SA’s premier farm show

If you share US President Donald Trump’s view that South Africa’s white commercial farmers — especially the Afrikaans flock among them — are a persecuted minority facing “genocide” and land seizures, then you should visit the Nampo fairgrounds outside the Free State town of Bothaville.

Daily Maverick journalists arrived on Tuesday morning for the first day of the annual Nampo Harvest Day (which runs for four days) and proceeded to the sprawling parking lot on the north side, which runs alongside the airstrip.

About 20 private passenger planes were parked along the airstrip and others were flying in, while 10 helicopters stood on a nearby stretch of grass. The parking lot for vehicles was a sea of massive bakkies and SUVs, including many that carry seven-digit price tags.

And for an agricultural show, there is the revealing presence of large stands representing South Africa’s big banks.

Refugees — or those who might be considered for such status — don’t fly to such events in their own aircraft or drive there in Ford Raptors. And capital does not set up shop to greet them. Banks don’t extend hundreds of billions of rands in credit to a population that is about to flee intolerable persecution.

But the 59 white Afrikaans “refugees” fleeing this alleged persecution, who arrived on a chartered flight on Monday, 12 May in Washington, was a topic addressed by one visiting black farmer to Nampo — President Cyril Ramaphosa.

“We must stay here and solve our problems. When you run away, you are a coward, and that’s a real cowardly act,” said Ramaphosa.

White South African farmers and agricultural officials who spoke to Daily Maverick at Nampo were open about the challenges they and the sector faced while dismissing absurd claims of persecution, land grabs or “genocide” which Trump used.

Problems

“We mustn’t try and get away. There are problems and the government is not pro-farmer, so we’ve got problems, but we can overcome them,” Nico Harris, a diversified farmer whose surname belies his Afrikaans background, told Daily Maverick at the cattle stand where he and his wife were selling Nguni rugs and place mats.

“I think the refugees that have gone are not well-established family farming businesses like we are. I think they don’t have an opportunity in the country and they might think that, ‘This is an opportunity for us.’ I don’t think they’re really fleeing because they are scared or worried, I think they see it as an opportunity, “ he said.

Still, he admitted to a sense of hostility from the state regarding white farmers.

“I think there are racially discriminating laws against white farmers, and I think they have problems and haven’t got sympathy from the government. But there are no real land grabs, and I don’t think there are real threats. There are individual farm attacks, but it’s more related to criminal activity. We just hope our government is going to wake up and realise that they need the farmers, black and white.”

The Expropriation Act that allows for the confiscation of land by the state without compensation — a policy that stirred the embers of Trump’s crusade against South Africa — is certainly a major concern for farmers.

“Just the idea of expropriation with no compensation, the mere thought, scares people. And that is a reality that we need to keep in mind, especially when you look at the individual farmer. The land is his asset,” Tobias Doyer, the CEO of Grain SA, told Daily Maverick.

Asked about the “refugees”, Doyer flashed an X message on his phone in Afrikaans that said, “They’ll miss Nampo”.

A blip

“It’s a blip on the radar screen. I don’t know any farmer that’s going to America, and we don’t expect any of our members to go because of these guys going to America. I think it’s overblown,” he said.

Corne Louw, a senior economist at Grain SA, said there were problems confronting the sector that needed to be addressed.

“There are things that do not go right in South Africa and you will be like an ostrich with its head in the sand if you think everything is milk and honey,” he said.

“When we talk about agriculture in South Africa we talk about the things that do work and there are many things that we are in agreement with the minister and the President on. There are very positive stories we can tell about transformation.”

Three decades after the end of apartheid rule, most farmland in South Africa remains white-owned, but there has been progress. About 25% is now black-owned according to the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa.

Dr Steve Tlailane, a 34-year-old medical doctor and emerging black farmer from Mpumalanga who owns 17 cattle, said that he found the sector open to transformation and redress.

“Last year I came here to Nampo and I was inspired,” he said. “The thing that I notice about South African white farmers is that they are always welcoming if you want to learn.”

Trump administration officials might also learn a thing or two if they came to Nampo. DM