EDINBURGH — Russia was once considered among South Africans to be an evil nation because of its Communist characteristics. Russia has also supported the ANC, and has links to the costly nuclear build programme that was pushed by former president Jacob Zuma and cronies. But, South African white farmers are now looking as far afield as Russia for new homes. That’s according to The Washington Post, which sketches the concerns of the country’s white farmers for its readers. These range from land expropriation talk to the country’s high crime rate, which has hit farming communities hard as they are particularly vulnerable in rural areas. – Jackie Cameron
By Thulasizwe Sithole
White South African farmers are being lured to Russia, which is promising them land, safety and an environment in which they can live Christian lives. That’s according to The Washington Post, which has investigated the emigration of South African farmers to rural Russia.
Journalist Amie Ferris-Rotman, in Kosyakovo, interviewed 72-year-old Leon du Toit, who told how his new dairy farm smelt “just like home”.
“That’s just what one Russian political figure hopes to hear. He is leading something of a charm offensive in South Africa with a very particular goal: hoping to lure white South Africans to move 8,000 miles away to rural Russia,” says the journalist.
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“The selling points are abundant farmland, relative safety and a country that holds tight to traditional Christian values. What is not said — but clearly understood — is how this fits neatly into the identity politics of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
The West may view Putin largely as a strategic and military adversary, she continues. “Yet inside Russia, much of his support grows from the idea of Russia as the caretaker for a white, Christian and old-style order — rejecting ‘so-called tolerance, genderless and infertile,’ in Putin’s own words in 2013.”
Such comments have helped elevate Putin’s stature among populists and nativist-driven political movements in the West, argues Ferris-Rotman. “And, within Russia, they have boosted the efforts of political insiders such as Vladimir Poluboyarenko, a government liaison from the Stavropol region in southern Russia.”
Poluboyarenko has taken the lead in organizing trips to Russia for white South Africans considering making a move, according to The Washington Post. “The effort intersects with many issues. There is Russia’s declining population and fresh ambitions to protect fellow Christians. Add to that the unease among some white South African farmers as the country debates possible land redistribution to redress racial imbalances during apartheid.”
Poluboyarenko claims he funds the trips for the South Africans with his own savings, but such activity would almost certainly need the Kremlin’s blessing, reckons the US publication.
“South Africa’s land expropriation debate and the myth of ‘white genocide’ have been a rallying cry for white nationalists around the world for years. According to a Pew Research Center report last year, fewer than 10,000 South Africans live in Russia. Last April, Russia scrapped tourist visa requirements for South Africans, meaning all planned visits by South Africans are no longer reviewed in advance.”
“I want them to know that Russia can be their mother country, too,” said Poluboyarenko, who assists the human rights ombudsman in the agricultural heartland of Stavropol.
Read also: Trump puts SA on radar, gets ANC to think again on land: The Atlantic
Whites still own the majority of land in South Africa, despite making up less than 10 percent of the population of 56 million, argues The Washington Post. Du Toit “represents the fears among some white farmers that the political trajectory of South Africa, such as the issue of land ownership, is not on their side”.
“We understand that our government must listen to the majority of the people,” Johannes du Toit is quoted as saying. He adds that he does not want his children to suffer.
“The purported plight of white South Africans — long a rallying cry of global far-right movements — caught the attention of President Trump last month. After watching a segment about the issue on Fox News, he asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study the “large-scale killing” of white farmers and the government’s land expropriation issue,” reports The Washington Post.
The tweet was the president’s first, at least while in office, to contain the word “Africa.” South Africa’s government denounced Trump’s remarks, it notes.
“The Kremlin, which enjoys close ties with the South African government after years of Cold War-era support for the ruling African National Congress party (ANC), had yet to officially comment on the land redistribution proposals. But the white South Africans are given airtime on state television,” says the publication.
Read also: Land expropriation is ‘crucial’ for SA, writes Cyril Ramaphosa – FT
There are no figures made public on the number of South Africans who have moved to Russia or are considering it. Poluboyarenko, however, is a prominent voice for the outreach. He gained attention earlier this year after helping an 11-member German family, outraged by sex education in Western schools, to settle in Russia.
The white South Africans who call themselves Boers, meaning “farmer” in Dutch, are descendants of the Dutch settlers who came to southern Africa in the 17th century and have an identity rooted in the Dutch Reformed Church, the Afrikaans language and a shared history of pioneering, explains The Washington Post.
For South African farmer Adi Schlebusch, Russia’s religious rebirth under Putin was a decisive factor in his family’s decision to emigrate. “The return of Christian values is a big motivation for us,” Schlebusch said by telephone from his South African cattle farm. “We thought Russian people would be sympathetic.”
In October, the 29-year-old Schlebusch, his wife and two young children plan to pack up and move to Moscow, where Schlebusch will teach English, says The Washington Post.
“After returning home from his first Russian visit in July, Schlebusch spoke to other farming families in his native Free State province. He estimates that about 25 families are now seriously considering moving to Russia,” adds the publication.
