Free State Agriculture cheers Trump’s backing amid land policy disputes

Free State Agriculture has welcomed a support pledged to the agricultural sector this week by US President Donald Trump.

The support came in an executive order by Trump last Friday, which flagged alleged human rights issues in the country.

The US government said the stance was in response to SA’s land policy that allows its government to “seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation” and SA’s genocide case against US ally Israel at the International Court of Justice.

President of Free State Agriculture Francois Wilken said the organisation was encouraged that the US government had heeded the pleas of South African farmers and acknowledged farmers’ safety and property rights, which it claimed were threatened by the ANC-led government.

However, Wilken said Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s claim that authorities in South Africa are confiscating private property is incorrect.

“While confiscation may culminate in actual land expropriation, the process begins with policies and legislation that erode or weaken established property rights,” he said.

“The fact remains that South Africa’s new Land Expropriation Act enables state bodies to expropriate land and other assets without paying market-related compensation. Therefore, Trump and Rubio’s terminology is accurate, even if specific parcels of land in South Africa have not yet been expropriated.”

‘Trump’s announcement is a wake-up call’

Wilken said the organisation is ready to accept any assistance and support for farming.

“We should welcome help from the United States and President Donald Trump. Furthermore, we are also willing to collaborate locally with any individual or organisation that can help ensure our farmers’ safety, property rights, and future,” Wilken said.

He described Trump’s announcement that farmers and Afrikaners would be eligible for refugee status in the US as a wake-up call for the South African government, agricultural organisations, and all communities in South Africa.

“Farm murders and rural security have been a reality for more than 30 years, yet none of our efforts to prompt action from the ANC government have yielded lasting results.”

Wilken said the farming community remain defenceless against “criminals who have been stealing our livestock and plundering large portions of our crops for decades while the police are unable to assist us”.

Free State Agriculture ready for ‘constructive path with US’

Wilken alleged that for the last 30 years, farmers have been targeted by radical left-wing politicians who have incited their supporters against farmers and the agricultural sector through alleged hate speech.

“For thirty years, a political elite has denied, dismissed, and ignored these problems, stripping our country bare and forsaking the rural economy. Now, our possessions and economic survival are at risk due to the new Expropriation Act.”

Wilken said although land has not yet been confiscated by the state, the Expropriation Act enables the government to seize any property. Therefore, the government’s assurances that assets will not be confiscated are not credible.

“Free State Agriculture is ready. We await the opportunity to see how South African farmers and the US can forge a constructive path forward to secure our and our country’s future,” he concluded.

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