Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Dianne Hawker
00:21 May 12, 2025
00:44 Dr. Theo de Jager | South African farmer
02:32 Dianne Hawker | DW Correspondent | Bothaville, Free State province
03:00 Themba Masemola | Farmer

Script:

00:00 - 00:10 - DW footage 
This memorial displays the names of some 2800 farmers - black and white,  killed in South Africa since the 1970s. (memorial wide) 

00:10 - 00:20- DW footage 
It’s a permanent feature at NAMPO - South Africa’s largest agricultural expo - and many who attend come to pay their respects to their fallen colleagues. (memorial people pay respects) 

00:20 -00:26 - Source:  Image: imago_st_0512_18050043_0817846082

Farm murder is one of the key reasons that US President Donald Trump has given Afrikaners refugees status – the first group seen here, arrived in the US last week. 

00:26 - 00:37 Source: Reuters: 3598 / 12 MAY /ÍUSA-TRUMP/AFRIKANERS ARRIVAL 
Trump has gone so far as to argue that farm murders are akin to a genocide. 

00:37 - 00:43 DW footage
But Farmer and doctor of philosophy Theo de Jager, says Trump is wrong. (theo at the memorial) 

00:43 - 01:15 UPSOUND: Dr. Theo de Jager, South African farmer 
“This is not a genocide. We know what a genocide is. We have seen it in Rwanda. My organisation Saai is also the biggest voice of farmers in Zimbabwe. Our members are both white farmers who lost their farms in land reform and Mathabele farms and cattle in the Gukurahundi massacres. That was a genocide. What happened here, although a very high percentage per thousand, is not a genocide, and we have never claimed it to be.” 

01:15 - 01:28  DW footage
De Jager, who heads up the Southern African Agri Initiative, wrote a letter to Trump after the Afrikaner refugee announcement. (talking to people in expo centre) 

He says he felt compelled to set the record straight. (more interaction of Theo) 

01:28 - 02:03 UPSOUND: Dr. Theo de Jager, South African farmer 
“First of all, we don’t want to go anywhere. We do not really know the farmers who already went over. We have a list of people who are interested of just about a thousand families. But on that list there are only two real farmers. We were scared that he might misunderstand what it’s all about. I said in that letter that the challenges we have is not only challenges for white farmers, there are even bigger challenges for black farmers.

02:03  - 02:11 DW footage
Afrikaners – who are white South Africans of Dutch and French descent – were once a privileged group under Apartheid. 
02:11 - 02:15 DW footage
They make up the bulk of the South African farming community. (general afrikaners walking)
02:15 - 02:31 DW footage
Afrikaner lobby groups say that in 2024, there were 24 farm murders. (memorial – other shots without Theo) 

In previous years the number has been as high as 40 – but it is still a fraction of the more than 27 000 murders that happen here each year. (close up of wall of rememberance) 

02:31 - 02:48 SUPER@Dianne Hawker / Reporting Location: Bothaville, Free State province 

PTC: Farm murder is not recorded as a separate crime in South Africa, so there’s no official police and government data.
Many farmers say this is a problem, arguing farm attacks have to be properly identified and recorded if they are to be stopped.

02:48 02:59 DW footage
But murders are not uncommon anywhere in South Africa, and as the names of black farmers on the memorial can attest, it is not just white farmers who are being killed: 

02:59 - 03:13 UPSOUND: Themba Masemola / Farmer 
“It’s happening to even our black farmers. It’s just crime which is out of control that our law enforcement needs to take responsibility for, not genocide as they are saying.”

03:13 - 03:29 DW footage
Despite Trump's claims of ethnic persecution, South Africa has made huge democratic gains in the three decades since the end of apartheid. But its high murder rate DOES remain a problem -  for all citizens, black or white.

(black and white people interacting – 2 or 3 shots)
•	END -