Afrikaners vir Suid-Afrika (AvSA, Afrikaners for South Africa) has issued a strong condemnation of Lex Libertas's planned exhibition of 3,000 white crosses in Washington, D.C., arguing that it exploits the suffering of farm attack victims to advance a narrow political agenda.
In a declaration titled “Farm Attack Victims Are Not Political Pawns,” the group stated that the campaign gives Americans a skewed view of South Africa and risks exacerbating racial tensions in the country.
Victims deserve justice, not political use
“We are Afrikaners. Violence against farming communities fills us with disgust. Victims deserve justice, and survivors need support and empathy. There must undoubtedly be urgent action to better secure farming communities in South Africa,” AvSA said. “Our objection is that victims' suffering is being leveraged to spread a misleading narrative about our country and to rally political support for a small minority.”
The exhibition, organised by the South African think tank and advocacy group Lex Libertas (led by Ernst Roets), is scheduled for 26 September 2026 on the National Mall. Organisers plan to display 3,000 white crosses to draw attention to farm murders and what they describe as the broader situation facing Afrikaners and other minorities, linking it to calls for greater self-governance or decentralisation.
Farm attacks are not a campaign of racial persecution
AvSA rejected the framing of farm attacks as a race-inspired campaign of persecution. “Violent crime affects every community in South Africa, especially black communities. Research shows that farm attacks are mostly attributable to robbery and other criminal motives,” the group said. “Racial hatred can indeed play a role in a small minority of individual farm attacks. But that does not mean that farm attacks in general form part of a campaign of racial persecution.”
Deaths cannot justify claims to self-determination
The organisation also objected to linking victims' deaths to claims of self-determination. “Lex Libertas openly links the crosses to their pursuit of American support for ‘self-government.’ Self-government is, however, an entirely different conversation. The deaths of farm attack victims cannot be misused as justification for it,” AvSA stated. It called on the organisers to explain how the exhibition would help people living under the threat of violence.
Exhibition risks harming South Africa
AvSA warned that the “skewed image” could deter tourists and investors, stoke local racial tensions, and hinder cooperation between communities that need each other to stay safe. It pointed to existing U.S. actions under the Trump administration – including aid cuts, visa restrictions, and threats of further measures – as evidence that South Africa has already become a political plaything for both Americans and certain local groups.
With U.S. midterm elections approaching, the group expressed concern that the cross exhibition would further fuel political exploitation of South Africa and serve as false justification for more American interference in the country's sovereign affairs. “South Africans should not have to pay the price because a small group wants to go canvassing for political support and money in America,” it said.
A minority voice, not the full picture
AvSA emphasised that Lex Libertas and its allies speak for a minority, not all South Africans or even all Afrikaners. “We trust that Americans will listen to a wider variety of South African voices.”
Afrikaners vir Suid-Afrika describes itself as a forum of moderate, progressive, and liberal Afrikaners and other South Africans committed to building an inclusive country. It rejects narratives portraying Afrikaners as victims of racial persecution in post-apartheid South Africa and opposes being used as pawns in external cultural or political battles. The group emerged in late 2025 amid debates over U.S. refugee policies and related claims about Afrikaner persecution.
Farm attacks remain a serious and contested issue in South Africa. High levels of violent crime affect the country broadly, with debates continuing over the relative rates, motives (primarily criminal versus racial), and appropriate responses for rural communities. AvSA's statement underscores internal divisions among Afrikaners and broader South African voices on how the problem should be framed internationally.