THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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The plight of white farmers in South Africa

The plight of white farmers in South Africa

Re: “One great leader can make all the difference”, Have Your Say, January 30.

I am surprised that Alf Haupt’s thoughtful essays on his native South Africa have yet to address the ongoing campaign of intimidation, murder and confiscation of land from white farmers. This accelerating genocide has generally remained beneath the radar of the mainstream media, and has attracted its deniers, but if anyone is any doubt about what’s going on there, I recommend watching “Farmlands (2018) Official Documentary” on YouTube, which has so far chalked up 2.1 million hits. It is extraordinary to discover that many descendants of the 17th-century Dutch settlers, deprived of employment under vicious new employment laws, are living in poverty in reservations on the outskirts of towns. The documentary is chilling, but nowhere near as chilling as the capture, stabbing to death and beheading of a white farm girl, captured on video by the grinning perpetrators, and as horrific as anything produced by the Islamic State. Needless to say, it is not on YouTube.
Let us hope that Alf Haupt’s wish comes true and that his beautiful country gets another great leader with the stature and humanity of Nelson Mandela.
Nigel Pike
Phang Nga 

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