State Department report condemns South Africa over 'extrajudicial killings' in annual human rights report

The U.S. State Department criticized South Africa for reports of extrajudicial police killings and violence against Afrikaner farmers in an annual human rights review released Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump, right, and Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa's president, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"According to data compiled by Agence France-Presse, there were 447 murders on farms and smallholdings between October 2023 and September 2024. In recent years, extremist political party the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) encouraged attacks on Afrikaner farmers, reviving the use of the song "Kill the Boer [Farmer]" at its rallies and otherwise inciting violence," the report added.

The State Department went on to criticize wider repression tactics against Afrikaners, citing The Expropriation Bill of 2024, in particular. The legislation allows the government to seize land without compensation in some circumstances.

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"This act could enable the government to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation, following countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business, and extreme rhetoric and government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners," the report said.

U.S. President Donald Trump gets animated during a meeting with the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House. (Getty Images)

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South Africa denies claims of genocide and harassment, as does its president.

"I'm not going to be repeating what I've been saying," Ramaphosa said at the May visit. "I would say if there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you these three gentlemen would not be here, including my Minister of Agriculture. He would not be with me."

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

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