In July, South Africa announced that the country is moving forward with a constitutional amendment to recover land from white farmers without compensation. The BBC reports, “The country’s white minority is believed to have a disproportionate hold over land, with a few thousand white commercial farmers possessing the most fertile lands.” Whites own 72 percent of the land, due to colonization and the Natives Land Act of 1913, which prohibited Blacks from buying or renting land in “white South Africa.” The 72 percent of white land ownership is disproportionate, considering the country is 80 percent Black.
The amendment has caused significant political turmoil in the country. Now there are accusations that white farmers are being threatened with violence.
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According to The Citizen, Black First Land First (BLF) president Andile Mngxitama is being accused of calling for violence, however, the activist says his comments were actually about self-defense.
See the video below:
Mngxitama wrote on Twitter, “Lol whites say @BLF_SouthAfrica must be investigated for saying self defense is a natural right. Lol.” He continued, calling out billionaire businessman Johann Rupert, who is vehemently against land reform, saying, “Johan Rupert thinks he can repeat the black on black violence of the 80s. No we wont fight the taxi bosses he is paying. We will go to white suburbs and avenge each black life the taxi bosses take. That’s deal!”
He also tweeted, “If you Kill black people. Will kill you too!!!”
His Twitter account has been suspended.
There have been no reports of violence against white farmers, even though Trump blatantly lied and said there were. But according to Foreign Policy in August, there is “no evidence that murders on farms specifically target white people or are politically motivated.” In addition, “Farmers suggested that they are more vulnerable to violence because of the remoteness of the farms and inadequate responses of law enforcement agencies, but they also noted that farm violence has never resulted in any kind of land seizure.”
South Africa’s government tweeted, “South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past.”
See below:
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