© 2026 ABC News

In response, the South African government said that his tweet was misinformed.

But experts say that such terminology is dangerous.

\"The narrative that is being peddled internationally, which is alarmist, is that there's a genocide against white people in South Africa,\" said Gareth Newham, head of the justice and violence prevention program at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa. \"And that is probably the most egregious statement because there's no data to support that whatsoever.\"

In fact, Newham said, farm murders are down from last year. He said that farmers, regardless of race, are more frequently targeted for violence than other groups because they live in remote areas, often with money and weapons on the property.

\"Young black males are far more likely to be victims of murder than any other population group in South Africa,\" Newham said.

Last month, Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan visited South Africa and met with officials after President Trump ordered an investigation.

\"There's some misinformation in the United States,\" Sullivan said. \"The issue is very complex, and I don't think it has translated well across the ocean, and been covered with the depth and the perspective that's necessary.\"

\"My plea was for transparency in how this land reform is going to be accomplished,\" he continued.

'Our DNA is connected to this land'

For Coetzee, he said that attention should still be paid to what people of color in South Africa still don't have. He said that his land, for which he has the title and deed, restricted him from farming or mining on it.

\"This is so unfair,\" he said. \"I feel like I'm in prison.\"

\"Gary
ABC
Gary Coetzee is part of the Khoisan tribe, the indigenous people of South Africa who were there long before anyone else.
>

When contacted by ABC News, a spokesperson for the Langeburg municipality that oversees his land, said that Coetzee has not been prevented from farming and added that he has only submitted an application to mine. They did not comment on whether his application to mine had been approved. The municipality, according to court filings, has disputed the validity of his deed.

Zanele Lwana, vice president of the militant group \"Black First Land First,\" said that their struggle is one for equity.

\"We are black, we were oppressed and segregated and massacred on the basis that we are black and not white,\" Lwana said. \"It cannot be that, 24 years into democracy, to be poor means to be to black and to be rich means to be white. It means there’s something wrong.\"

For now, the National Assembly has adjourned until after elections in May and it remains to be seen whether or not the constitutional amendment will pass.

With her life on hold, Hall said, all she can do is hope.

\"You've got to find the beautiful in the morning,\" she said. \"How do you lift your head up without something to strive for?\"

For Coetzee, the promise of land reform beckons.

\"They take our language away, they took our culture and traditions away. They took a lot of things away,\" he said. \"There must be a day where we say 'today it's like judgment day.'\"

Conor Finnegan, Ozren Milharcic, Liezl Thom, and Sifiso Khanyile contributed to this report.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/International/growing-fight-south-africa-land-identity/story?id=62280577","legacySlug":"/news/story/growing-fight-south-africa-land-identity-62280577","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"21:59","publishDate":"04-10-2019","updatedTime":"06:40","updatedDate":"04-11-2019","socialImage":{"alt":"Bernadette Hall is a farmer in South Africa, with expansive land to hold her cattle, corn, and pigs. She said it's what she was meant to do.","credit":"ABC","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/Bernadette-main-ABC-AY-190409_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"4/10/2019 21:59:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":62280577,"headline":"The fight in South Africa over land and identity","mediaAssetTitle":"NTL-South-Africa","description":"\"There must be a day where we say 'Today, it's judgment day.'\"","duration":"10:33","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/04/190410_ntl_africa_fix_1240_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["133741861","133707237","133144263"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"video","date":"June 10, 2026","headline":"NASA unveils Artemis III crew","section":"News","slug":"/video/133741861","id":"133741861","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: NASA unveils Artemis III crew","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: NASA unveils Artemis III crew","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260610_gma_benitez_artemis_715_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"June 9, 2026","headline":"Flash flood threat as dangerous weather on the move","section":"News","slug":"/video/133707237","id":"133707237","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Flash flood threat as dangerous weather on the move","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Flash flood threat as dangerous weather on the move","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260609_gma_zee_weather1_707_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"May 20, 2026","headline":"Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","section":"News","slug":"/video/133144263","id":"133144263","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"The fight in South Africa over land and identity","description":"\"There must be a day where we say 'Today, it's judgment day.'\"","duration":"10:33","uploadDate":"04-10-2019","publication":"04-10-2019","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/04/190410_ntl_africa_fix_1240_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/04/190410_ntl_africa_fix_1240_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/growing-fight-south-africa-land-identity-62280577"}},"playlist":[{"id":"78356537","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133929295","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133958398","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133882828","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810954","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133779647","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810835","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133749799","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133777519","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133748258","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"The fight in South Africa over land and identity","pubTime":"17:59","pubDate":"04-10-2019","modTime":"02:40","modDate":"04-11-2019","taxonomyTags":"none","id":62280577,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"The fight in South Africa over land and identity","mediaAssetTitle":"NTL-South-Africa","videoId":62280577,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/news/story/growing-fight-south-africa-land-identity-62280577"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/62280577","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/62280577","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};