Pretoria says allegations of mistreatment of racial minority groups do not reflect the reality of the country’s constitutional democracy

South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola has criticized a recent US State Department human rights report on his country, describing it as “inaccurate and deeply flawed.”

The report alleges that South Africa is moving towards land expropriation targeting Afrikaners and mistreating racial minorities, claims the South African government has strongly rejected.

Lamola expressed “profound disappointment” with the report. ”We find the report to be an inaccurate and deeply flawed account that fails to reflect the reality of our constitutional democracy,” said Chrispin Phiri, DIRCO spokesperson.

He added that the report’s reliance on “a-contextual information and discredited accounts” is highly concerning. ”It cites an incident involving the deaths of farm workers and, despite the matter being actively adjudicated by our independent judiciary, misleadingly presents it as an extrajudicial killing,” said Phiri.

“This is not only premature but a fundamental distortion of the facts, as the individuals are formally arraigned before a court of law.”

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He also criticised how the report handled issues involving police conduct. ” Similarly, incidents of police using force are mentioned without acknowledging the robust processes in place, where institutions designed to protect our democracy are actively investigating whether due process was followed and if such force was warranted,” he said.

Phiri said South Africa operates a transparent system, where information is freely available from law enforcement agencies and Chapter 9 institutions, which are constitutionally mandated to protect and advance human rights. ”It is ironic that a report from a nation that has exited by the UN Human Rights Council and therefore no longer sees itself accountable in a multilateral peer review system would seek to produce one side fact free reports without any due process or engagement,” he said.

”This is particularly striking given the significant and documented concerns about human rights within the United States, including the treatment of refugees and breaches in due process by its own agencies, such as ICE.”

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Phiri contrasted the US report with a recent assessment from the United Nations Human Rights Office in Geneva, which he said it endorsed South Africa’s land reform programme. “This recognition from the UN’s primary human rights body underscores the integrity of our legislative processes aimed at rectifying historical injustices in a constitutional and human-rights-based manner,” he said.

He added that the government is compiling a set of documents that will be released to the public during the course of the week. ”A cursory reading of reports from the South African Human Rights Commission and the UN Human Rights Council, as well as articles from reputable news agencies like the AFP serve to correct the distortions and set the record straight on South Africa’s unwavering commitment to human rights.”

The US report alleged multiple instances where the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. ”In July the provincial police commissioner confirmed that as of April, police shot and killed at least 40 criminal suspects in shoot-outs. On September 2, police reported six suspects wanted for homicide and extortion were shot and killed by Durban police in a shoot-out,” it said.

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It further referenced a January report from the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on the 2021 unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, which resulted in the deaths of 337 people and the arrest of 3,400 others. According to the report, the SAHRC found the government and police shortcomings in intelligence sharing and described the South African Police Service as “ill-prepared to deal with orchestrated attacks” .

It further said that the SAHRC reported that on August 30, two Black women, ages 45 and 35, were shot and killed at a farm in Limpopo. “According to the SAHRC, a swineherd and two employees were arrested and appeared in court on charges of killing the women. The victims were allegedly shot and killed and their remains fed to the swineherd’s pigs.”

The report went on to allege that according to data compiled by Agence France-Presse (AFP), there were 447 murders on farms and smallholdings between October 2023 and September 2024.

It also alleged that the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) encouraged violence against Afrikaner farmers by reviving the controversial song “Kill the Boer (Farmer)” at its rallies and otherwise inciting violence. However, EFF leader Julius Malema has since vowed to continue singing the song after the Constitutional Court ruled that it does not incite violence, hate speech or promote killings of white farmers.

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The report also claimed that refugee advocacy organisations have said that police and immigration officials physically abused refugees and asylum seekers. ”Violence against migrants, including asylum seekers and refugees, was a continuing problem across the country. Those targeted often owned or managed small, informal grocery stores in economically marginalised areas that lacked government services,” the report said. However, the South African government has vehemently denied all the claims, calling them misleading.

First published by IOL

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