The Government of South Africa announced Wednesday that it is investigating a farmer for his social media posts that allegedly spread “racist” and “false information” that reached decision-makers in the United States.
The announcement came after News24.com, a South African news website, conducted an investigation to reveal (i.e. to “dox”) the owner of an account on X (formerly Twitter) known as “Twatterbaas,” with which Elon Musk had interacted. News24.com claimed the account has “posted racist tropes” and that the owner, Sebastiaan Jooste, is “one of the leading figures posting information about farm murders and attacks.”
The tactics used by News24.com to target a private citizen recall those used by CNN during the first Trump administration, when it pursued ordinary people who unknowingly joined fake Russian Facebook groups.
A separate investigation by South African political news website PoliticsWeb found that the Twatterbaas account had not, in fact, created racist content or posted misinformation, but rather had largely focused on reposing racist comments made by South African politicians, including the notorious “kill the Boer” chant popularized by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) head Julius Malema. Some posts had then gone viral.
Last month, the South African Police Services (SAPS) announced an investigation into the alleged “treason” of Afrikaner activists who had traveled to the U.S. to share concerns about their government’s policies.
It is the position of the South African government, and the consensus in much of the South African media, that the problem in U.S.-South African relations is “misinformation,” and not South Africa’s actual policies.
The apartheid regime, which enforced racist white minority rule from 1948 to 1994, regularly targeted critics in exactly the same manner. Ironically, South Africa appeared this week at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague to complain about Israel’s alleged violations of Palestinian human rights in Gaza. The South African representative did not mention the plight of the remaining Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
