On di South African road wey Trump mistakenly identify as 'burial site'

BBC News

23-05-2025

P39-1 na one small tarred highway road wey connect two small towns Newcastle and Normandein for South Africa, na four hours drive from Johannesburg.
Dis week, di road wey be single carriage way, wey dey run mainly beside farms around hills for KwaZulu-Natal province don become center of global attention.
On Wednesday, plenty South Africans dey among pipo around di would wey dey watch for live TV wen US President Donald Trump ambush im South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa dey show am video wey suggest say white pipo dey chop persecution. Im bin don tok say "genocide" dey take place.
Di video scenes wey gbege pass na di one wey show thousands of white cross by di road side - "burial site" President Trump tok am plenti times say di site na dat of thousands of Afrikaners wey dem murder in recent years.
Di president no mention wia di road dey, but dem quickly link di video like say e happen for Normandein.
But pipo wey dey live nearby know beta pass odas say di claim no be true.
BBC visit di site on Thursday, a day afta di two presidents meet for Oval Office, only to find out say e don tey wey di P39-1 crosses disappear.
No burial site dey dia, and di road look like any oda road. Dem don build new grain mill for one stretch of di road wia di cross dem bin dey.
Wetin we see na community wey dey in shock as to how dem don turn talk of di town, and di truth about di crosses wey reveal plenti tins about how delicate race matter be for South Africa.
Roland Collyer na man wey understand am well.
Im be farmer for Afrikaner community for South Africa, na wen dem murder im aunty and uncle Glen and Vida Rafferty cause death for dia family five years ago, dis make dey build dose crosses.
Attackers kill dem for dia farm, collect valuable property from dia homes, dis make di farming community to cry out, and lead to di temporary planting of di crosses by fellow Afrikaners, unto say dem wan highlight di murders and dat of oda farmers wey dem don kill for South Africa.
"So di video una dey see, na dat of we as we dey stand together for roadside, e happun for dis section of di road."
As e point hand down di hills, towards village wia black families dey live inside mud huts, e say "dem bin plant crosses for both sides of di road, e represent lives dem do take for dis farms, farm murders. All di way from di bridge, e waka down reach wia we dey stand now. Di crosses bin dey symbolic, e dey show wetin bin dey happun for di kontri."
One of Rafferty neighbors wey be business man Rob Hoatson tell BBC how im organize di crosses to get public attention, na so di couple death affect dem.
"E no be burial site," na so e tok, add say Trump too dey exaggerate, but add say im no mind say dem use di image of crosses. "Na memorial e be, no be permanent memorial we build, na temporary memorial."
Mr Collyer continue to dey farm for di area but say di two sons of Mr and Mrs Rafferty live di area after di murder of dia parents. Di younger one don move go Australia while di elder one sell up and leave farming relocate to city.
Many pipo still dey scared of dia future for South Africa, di kontri get one of di highest murder rates for di world.
For 2022, dem convict two local men Doctor Fikane Ngwenya and Sibongiseni Madondo say na dem kill di Rafferty couple, dem also convict dem of robbery. Dia sentence na life imprisonment and 21 years imprisonment respectively.
For many pipo wey dey di local community, dis na rare act of justice as plenti murder cases dey unsolved across di kontri wey President Ramaphosa tell President Trump say dem never still get grip of di crime rate wey dey go high. Di Rafferty case raise plenti dust ontop racial tension for di area.
Dem force South Africa police minister to visit di area to calm tins down. Afrikaners do protests say dem dey chop mistreatments from white farmers.
Ontop di matter, Mr Collyer tell me say even though dem use misleading video, im dey happy say President Trump dey highlight attacks on white farmers.
"Di whole procession na to raise international media coverage of wetin dey happun," na so e tok.
"And for dem to understand wetin we dey go through and how we dey live our life here at di moment for South Africa.
"Pesin gass enter im house before dark, live behind electric fence. Dat na di kain life we dey live now and no be di kain live pesin wan live."
Im fears dey like dat of odas, from all races, for kontri wey suffer more dan 26,000 murders last year. Plenti of di victims na black, according to security experts.
President Trump don make offer of asylum to all Afrikaners, first group of 49 arrive Washington earlier dis month. But Collyer tell me say im go stay for Normandein and no get plan to leave South Africa.
"E no dey easy for me to leave wetin my papa, my grandpapa and great grandpapa work for, plus how hard dem work." Na so e tok.
"Dat na di difficult tin, just to pack up after plenti generations and try to leave di kontri. Unfortunately na ontop head of white Afrikaners e dey fall ontop for South Africa… but for dis stage, I no go tink of going, I still love dis kontri too much."
As we dey comot, Mr Collyer add one comment about di future.
"I think if we fit join hands, we get more dan enough pipo for dis kontri - black and white - wey dey willing to join hands and try to make dis kontri be a success again."
Plenti pipo still dey for di local community wey be say farming dey follow dem from old generations.
Along di road as we dey go Normandein town, we meet Bethuel Mabaso.
E dey 63 years old and grow up for di area. E say e surprise am say im community don become international news - say even Us President use am as "evidence" to show say dem dey target white farmers.
"Nothing like dat dey happun hia," e speak for im native Zulu language. "We bin dey shocked as community wen di murders happun and we dey sad for di family. "I don live hia since I be little boy, di area dey peaceful. Nothing like dat don happun hia since."
Since di years wey di Rafferty couple die, reports don dey waka round from black dwellers say police no dey attend to cases wey involve black pipo wit di same manner dem use attend to di couple death case.
I ask anoda 40 years old Mbongiseni Shibe how di relationship between farmers and dia mostly black staff.
"We dey manage any issues wey show face through discussions, if e no work, we ask police to enter di matter," na so e tok. "Na sometin like incident wia our livestock enter dia fields and police help us bring am out and e fit happun from dia side too."
Mr Shibe never forget how racial segregation matter dey be like for South Africa.
"We dey come from difficult past for dis kontri wit white pipo, I remember dose time of abuse even as small boy wey I be den for di farms hia," "but we don let am go, we no Dey use am punish anyone."
Additional reporting by Ed Habershon