By Dylan Bettencourt
- US officials told Freedom Front Plus they want the ANC to drop Black Economic Empowerment laws for American companies and stop land grabs without pay.
- The Presidency says the Afrikaner delegation’s visit to the US was an attempt to undermine President Cyril Ramaphosa’s official meeting with Donald Trump.
Freedom Front Plus leaders went to Washington and came back with a list of demands from the United States.
The party says US officials told them the South African government must meet certain conditions if it wants better relations with America.
The US wants the ANC to speak out clearly against the “Kill the Boer” chant, to stop plans for taking land without paying, and to treat farm attacks as very serious crimes. It also wants US companies to be free from Black Economic Empowerment laws.
Party spokesperson Pieter de Necker said they met with top officials from the Office of the Vice President, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council.
He said US leaders are upset that the South African government has not responded to these demands, which they have raised many times.
This meeting comes shortly after President Cyril Ramaphosa went to the US to try to fix relations.
The Presidency said they were not pleased. Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya called the trip a “sabotage” effort against President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent visit to the US.
He said Ramaphosa was working hard to fix relations with America and boost economic ties. “It’s an exercise aimed at destabilising our economy,” Magwenya said.
He also dismissed the delegation’s claim about farm murders not being treated seriously. “Murder is already a priority crime,” he said. “The majority of victims are farm dwellers, not just farmers.”
Magwenya warned that turning rural crime into a racial issue is dangerous and misleading.
Ramaphosa met with Trump last month, alongside ministers, businessman Johann Rupert, and golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.
Trump used the meeting to focus on farm attacks and played a video of Julius Malema chanting “Kill the Boer”, which Ramaphosa said was taken out of context.
Pictured above: The FF in the US.
Image source: @TheoDJager
