Worldview: South Africa targets farmer's X account in free speech crackdown, echoing apartheid-era tactics

Key topics:SA probes farmer Sebastiaan Jooste over controversial X posts.News24 claims racism; PoliticsWeb finds no false or racist content.Critics warn of state overreach and media-driven censorship..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Kerry Lanaghan.Listen to this story instead: .The South African government has launched an investigation into farmer Sebastiaan Jooste over his social media activity on the X account “Twatterbaas,” accusing him of spreading “racist” and “false information” that allegedly influenced US decision-makers. This development followed a News24.com exposé that identified Jooste as the person behind the account, which had garnered attention from Elon Musk. News24 accused Jooste of promoting racist tropes and spreading disinformation on farm attacks - a contentious and emotive issue in South Africa.However, a counter-investigation by PoliticsWeb found no evidence that Jooste’s posts were racist or misleading. Instead, the account primarily re-shared controversial or inflammatory statements made by South African politicians, including the “kill the Boer” chant used by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema. Some of these posts went viral, helping draw international attention to crime and racial tensions in South Africa’s rural areas.This is not the first time the South African government has pursued critics of its policies. Just weeks earlier, authorities announced an investigation into Afrikaner activists who had travelled to the United States to raise concerns about state policy, accusing them of “treason.” In both instances, the government and much of the local media have framed the issue as misinformation, rather than addressing the substance of the claims being made.Critics have likened the government’s actions - and the tactics of News24 - to those of authoritarian regimes, noting disturbing parallels with the apartheid era, when state power was often used to silence dissenters. Ironically, these developments come as South Africa accuses Israel of human rights abuses at the International Court of Justice, without acknowledging ongoing abuses and unresolved hostage situations involving Hamas.The saga underscores growing concerns about free expression, political accountability, and state overreach in South Africa, especially as social media platforms become battlegrounds for narratives that cross borders and influence global perceptions.(This article is a précis of a piece originally published in Breitbart and can be read in full here.)

Worldview: South Africa targets farmer's X account in free speech crackdown, echoing apartheid-era tactics

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