The South African government has refuted claims in the 2024 United States Human Rights Report suggesting racially motivated attacks on white farmers, describing the allegations as “distorted and inaccurate”.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said the US report misrepresented the reality of rural safety in South Africa and undermined the country’s commitment to a rules-based international system grounded in human rights and constitutional protections.
“The suggestion that these crimes represent a concerted practice of racially motivated attacks, as insinuated by the US report, is not borne out by the facts,” DIRCO said, referencing South African Police Service statistics for the first quarter of 2025.
According to the data, six murders occurred in farming communities between January and March, with three of the victims being farm employees, one was a black farm dweller while only two were white farmers.
The US report, released earlier this month, raised concerns about alleged repression of Afrikaner minorities and cited inflammatory rhetoric from political parties, including the revival of the controversial “Kill the Boer” chant.
It also criticised South Africa’s Expropriation Act, claiming it could enable land seizures without compensation, disproportionately affecting white farmers.
South Africa has dismissed these claims, noting that the Expropriation Act is constitutionally sound and designed to address historical land ownership imbalances through just and equitable processes.
DIRCO highlighted the implementation of the National Rural Safety Strategy, which has been rolled out to 99 percent of identified rural police stations.
The strategy includes enhanced police capacity and collaboration with stakeholders such as traditional leaders, farmer associations, labour unions and civil society groups.
Key partners include Agri-SA, the African Farmers Association of South Africa, the Transvaal Agricultural Union and advocacy groups like AfriForum and Stop Attacks and Farm Murders.
The government also pointed to the Eyes and Ears programme, a public-private partnership coordinated with Business Against Crime South Africa, which uses private security resources to boost police responsiveness and situational awareness in rural areas.
“South Africa remains committed to a transparent and collaborative approach to addressing crime,” DIRCO said.
“We stand ready to engage with any nation on matters of mutual interest through established diplomatic channels and we will continue to provide accurate, data-driven information to counter any misrepresentations of our domestic situation.”
JN/APA