No genocide in SA, G20 told

DEPARTMENT of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development acting director-general Nomthandazo Moyo has set the record straight on reports of genocide in South Africa.

Moyo spoke during the opening of the G20 Development Working Group in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday.

Moyo said that while the country dealt with development issues, it also faced challenges and every country dealt with crime issues. 

Moyo also said issues of public safety were something that affected everyone, irrespective of whether they were in the south, the north or the east of the globe.

As the administrator responsible for land, Moyo confirmed that there was no expropriation of land without compensation when it came to land redistribution issues and there was also restitution for those whose land was taken during apartheid. 

“When we restitute the land, we buy the land from the previous owners. We don’t take it by force,” Moyo said. 

“We do buy the land in order to give it back to those who had the land taken (away) through apartheid,” Moyo said. 

“I can confirm there is no genocide. There is no deliberate action by this government to kill white people.

“We believe in humanity, we believe in one nation irrespective of race and our policies, our legislation and the application thereof embrace humanity.”

Moyo said she thought that as the discussion began on development, it was crucial to remember that this development must be inclusive and non-discriminatory, regardless of race.

“We are one, whether we are black, white, Indian, coloured, we are human race,” Moyo said. 

The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation's director-general, Robert Nkuna said: “The point is we did not plan genocide in the past. There is no genocide at present. There would be no genocide in future. So that is our story.”

The issue of genocide in South Africa has reached foreign soil, with President Cyril Ramaphosa recently travelling to the United States to speak to US President Donald Trump. 

Ramaphosa told Trump that there was no white genocide in South Africa. 

Since the meeting with Trump, more political heads and other leaders have also said there was no genocide in the country. 

They include award-winning American actress Viola Davis, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, Free State Agriculture’s Dr Jane Buys and former African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. 

Citing the country's latest crime statistics, which cover the first three months of 2025, Mchunu said six murders linked to farms were recorded in the first quarter of 2025, with five of the victims being black.

Mchunu emphasised that the history of farm murders in South Africa has been distorted and reported in an unbalanced way. 

"The truth is that farm murders have always included African people in more numbers," he said.

Cape Times