The initiative was announced on Friday by Ernst Roets’ Lex Libertas and the New York Young Republicans Club (NYYRC), which said it wants to raise international awareness of what it calls the “plight of Afrikaners”.
In a joint statement, the groups said they plan to launch an international petition urging the United States to appoint a special envoy “dedicated to engaging with the Afrikaner community and other cultural minorities in South Africa”.
They added that the petition would also ask the US “to recognise the pursuit of self-governance as a legitimate and peaceful solution”, and said it would be submitted to the US President and State Department once it reaches 100,000 signatures.
But South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said domestic issues should be handled through local institutions, rejecting what it described as external intervention.
“South Africa is a sovereign Republic, not a foreign protectorate. The Afrikaner identity is diverse and multi-ethnic, not a narrow racial group requiring foreign referees,” Dirco spokesperson Crispin Phiri told The Citizen. “We can solve South African challenges with South African hands, without a foreign crutch.”
Lex Libertas and the NYYRC also outlined further plans in Washington, including a public vigil on the National Mall featuring 3,000 white crosses to symbolise victims of farm attacks, and a request for the US Congress to hold a public hearing on South Africa and “structural policy solutions.”
