Chairperson of the South African Agri-Initiative (Saai), a network for family farmers, and former president of the World Farmers Organisation Dr Theo de Jager recently addressed farmers and others in the NG Kerk in Alexandria. Titled ‘Ope gesprek met boere’, the topic was farming in South Africa. In the open invitation, questions to be answered by De Jager were focused on farming, opportunities in other parts of Africa, and recent political developments.
The day before, Saai said it had formed an agreement with several organisations, including Solidarity and AfriForum, to co-ordinate efforts to assist individuals and families wishing to pursue the opportunity to settle in the US as refugees.
“Saai said on Friday there was an explicit invitation by US President Donald Trump to South African farmers, offering them a shortcut to US citizenship if they feel unsafe or persecuted in South Africa,” TimesLive reported.
Also on that Friday (March 7), Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that “any Farmer (with family!) from South Africa, seeking to flee that country for reasons of safety, will be invited into the United States of America with a rapid pathway to citizenship.”
Trump also repeated his accusations that the South African government was “confiscating” land from white people. He said South Africa was a “bad place to be right now” and that the resettlement process would start immediately.
The Expropriation Act is aimed at facilitating land reform and redistribution. The act allows government to expropriate land for public purposes or in the public interest, which includes land reform and redistribution. No land has been confiscated from farmers in South Africa.
Interactions with the US administration by Afriforum and Solidarity, which organisations Saai has aligned itself with, were used by Trump to justify the suspension of all foreign aid, and specifically to South Africa.
At the beginning of February, President Trump posted on Truth Social, “South Africa is confiscating land and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
Questioned later that day by reporters, he said: “Terrible things are happening in South Africa [they are] taking away land, they’re confiscating land, and actually they’re doing things that are perhaps far worse than that.”
Following the Solidarity/ Afriforum intervention:
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President Donald Trump decreed the cessation of aid to South Africa. This includes the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) which constitutes 17% of South Africa’s HIV/Aids programme.
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The US boycotted the G20 summit in Johannesburg (South Africa is the first African country to hold the rotating leadership of the group of 20);
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Trump decreed the promotion of the resettlement of “Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation”.
Concerned about the likely effects of being expelled from AGOA, a delegation from Solidarity and Afriforum hastened to the White House to try and mitigate the damage. The US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) gives certain sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market for certain products, including agricultural produce such as citrus, nuts, wine, grapes, and fruit juices.
On February 25 chairperson of the Solidarity Movement Flip Buys, Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel, Solidarity CEO Dr Dirk Hermann, and Jaco Kleynhans, head of international liaison at the Solidarity Movement, were the delegation that requested the US “not to punish South Africa as a country if it has diplomatic differences with the SA government but to rather pressure ANC leaders to right what is wrong”.
TimesLive reported on March 4 that following the Afriforum/ Solidarity meetings with the US administration, the Hawks were investigating four dockets for high treason, reportedly targeting AfriForum and Solidarity.
Back in Alexandria, on March 8, a packed NG Kerk hall listened intently as De Jager spoke on a range of topics ranging from defending farmers against accusations from animal welfare organisations; the narrative that white farmers had stolen the land; the decline of small towns in South Africa and the importance of strong farming communities in maintaining them; the manner and importance of mentoring emerging farmers; why and how so many South African farmers were practicing their trade in other African countries; and the encouraging trend of younger farmers entering the field.
“Ons is nou in wit water,” De Jager told his audience. “En dis nie die eerste keer nie.” (We are in white water [i.e. turbulent times] and not for the first time).
Interview with Dr Theo de Jager
Talk of the Town interviewed De Jager after his talk. These were the questions:
Do you have any regrets about Saai’s relationship with Afriforum and Solidarity given the repercussions for South Africa from their interactions with the US administration?
What was the result you expected from that interaction?
Please comment on the fact that a programme that was reversing the trajectory of HIV/Aids in SA has stopped as a result of those organisations’ interaction with the US administration
Please comment on the likely halting of AGOA in September this year following the Afriforum/ Solidarity interactions with the US administration.
Please comment on the allegation of treason against the individuals who were part of the Afriforum/ Solidarity delegation.
What is your main message to South African farmers?
How many have taken up the offer of refugee status in the US?
How many from this area have done so?
Talk of the Town will share this interview, as well as questions and answers frojm the ‘boeregesprek’ in the coming weeks via our SoundCloud account, shared on Facebook, as well as in print.
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This article was first published in Talk of the Town, March 27, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
