A local councillor in South Africa says she is “sad” that a tribute to a murdered farming couple was shown by U.S. President Donald Trump as supposed evidence of a mass killing of white farmers.
During a meeting at the White House with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump played aerial footage of a long line of cars passing hundreds of white crosses. He claimed the scene represented burial sites for more than 1,000 white farmers, repeating the false narrative of a “white genocide” in South Africa.
In reality, the crosses had been placed in 2020 along a road between Newcastle and Normandien, KwaZulu-Natal, as part of a memorial service for Glen and Vida Rafferty, a farming couple murdered in their home.
Bebsie Cronje, a ward councillor for Newcastle, said the display was never meant as a tally of farm murders. “It was just a total tribute to the Raffertys,” she said. “I feel it’s very sad that something like this is being used politically.” The crosses have since been removed.
South Africa’s police minister, Senzo Mchunu, confirmed the tribute’s origins and said three suspects had been jailed for the Raffertys’ killing. He rejected the idea of a white-targeted genocide, noting that the country recorded just six farm murders in the first three months of 2025—only one involving a white victim—out of a total of 5,727 murders nationwide.
“The history of farm murders has always been distorted,” Mchunu said. “The truth is that African people have been victims in greater numbers.”
Cronje said the tribute was organised by friends of the Raffertys and was not politically motivated. While acknowledging that another white farmer in Newcastle had since been killed, she stressed that farm attacks affect victims of all races—though, she noted, killings of black farmers rarely draw media attention.