Bozell: Ramaphosa must condemn ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ chant

US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to publicly condemn the “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer” chant, calling it an incitement to violence.

Bozell defended US concerns about violence affecting farming communities and said Washington wanted to work with the South African government on rural safety. He said he had presented Ramaphosa with three concepts, including a plan developed by the South African government, and said the US was prepared to help fund efforts to improve safety.

Bozell said he had recently spoken to a farmer who told him he had been attacked and now slept with a gun. “I would say that crime in South Africa is horrific. No one’s going to disagree with me on that,” he said. But he argued that the US was particularly concerned about rural farming communities where he said there was limited police activity.

Our position, and we stated this to the president, is that the ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ chant is an incitement to violence. The entire world sees that phrase as an incitement to violence.

Bozell also addressed the issue of expropriation without compensation, stating that it would be a direct threat to investment in the country. He noted that while the matter is currently in the courts, the US remains focused on the protection of property rights as part of its broader diplomatic engagement with the South African government.