Afrikaners' rights must be recognised, Groenewald tells parliament

Correctional services minister and Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald has urged the government to recognise the rights of Afrikaners and work towards rebuilding the country in a way that makes no-one want to leave.

US President Donald Trump has offered to accept Afrikaners who are victims of “unjust racial discrimination” as refugees, stating his disapproval of the Expropriation Act signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa last month.

However, many Afrikaners have rejected Trump's offer, with Groenewald emphasising they want to stay in South Africa and contribute to its prosperity.

During the state of the nation address debate in parliament on Tuesday, Groenewald the land belongs to all who live in it, including Afrikaners, and their rights should be recognised.

“Afrikaners have always been building and developing South Africa. Their rights should be recognised because they want to stay here to help make the country so prosperous that no-one wants to leave,” he said.

“The country’s constitution and even the ANC’s own Freedom Charter stipulate that the land belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that we are all united in our diversity. Afrikaners are inextricably part of this diversity and want to help the country prosper.”

Those who want to leave the country can choose to do so, Groenewald added.

Addressing the contentious act, which aims to redress historical land inequalities by making it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest, he cautioned that it won't resolve the root of the problem, describing this as an “uncomfortable truth”.

“The department of agriculture, land reform and rural development indicates in an annual report on the restitution programme that to date about 80,000 claims have been finalised. Of these, 94% of the claimants preferred monetary restitution as opposed to land. In the cases where landownership was transferred to the claimants, 80% of the existing agricultural projects on the land failed. So it is wrong to assume that expropriation without compensation will serve as a quick fix to achieve successful land reform.”

Groenewald said some farmers' land in the Free State was occupied illegally, saying the police are not taking adequate action.

“Based on these cases, it would be justified to point the finger at government as an accomplice to land grabs. Such problems can only be resolved by recognising uncomfortable truths, discussing them and sorting them out.”

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