I just returned from the United States, where it was my great privilege and honour to participate in the White Cross Project, an initiative of the think tank and advocacy group Lex Libertas. In an earlier column, I outlined my reasons for participating, but here are my reflections after the fact.

Lex Libertas – under the bold leadership of Dr Ernst Roets – initiated the White Cross Project to draw attention to the crisis in South Africa, with an emphasis on violent incitement, farm attacks, race-based legislation, and threats to property rights.

The project included two events held over two days in Washington DC: a conference at the National Press Club and a vigil where 3,000 white crosses were planted on the lawns of the National Mall to commemorate victims of farm attacks in South Africa.

The Conference

Held on Friday, 25 September, the White Cross Project Conference brought together representatives from think tanks, the US federal government, and the media to discuss the situation in South Africa and the American interest.

Dr Roets opened the conferencewith a reflection on Afrikaners’ attachment to South Africa and their right to remain in the country they call home. The government’s right to sovereignty does not extend to the right to persecute its own citizens, he said.

Stefano Forte, President of the New York Young Republican Club, argued that the plight of Afrikaners represents a betrayal of the promise of 1994. Instead of a rainbow nation, South Africa has become a retribution nation, he said.

Adv Mark Oppenheimer addressing the White Cross Project Conference (25 September 2026).

Adv Mark Oppenheimer spoke about violent incitementby political leaders such as Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Violent rhetoric like the ‘Kill the Boer’ chant provides political cover for farm attacks, he said, while the courts and the media downplay or ignore the problem.

Dr James Myburgh traced the origins, history, and consequences of South Africa’s farm attack crisisand revealed how the African National Congress (ANC) deliberately targeted white farmers as part of its violent revolutionary campaign. He deplored the normalisation of farm attacks by the ANC and members of the intelligentsia.

Dr Martin van Staden, my colleague at the Free Market Foundation (FMF) and the editor of the Index of Race Law, spoke to the proliferation of race-based laws in South Africa and how continued legislated discrimination against minority groups revealed the political elite’s superficial appeals to so-called “non-racial democracy”.

Dr Martin van Staden and Dr James Myburgh at the White Cross Project Conference (25 September 2026)

In my speech, I addressed threats to property rights in South Africa and outlined how the ANC has sought to advance state control over the economy through policies like expropriation without compensation (EWC). This assault on property rights is integral to the ANC’s pursuit of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR), I argued.

The conference concluded with a discussion between Dr Roets and Samuel Samson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the US Department of State.

Samson correctly called out the South African government’s obfuscation and delaying tactics in the ongoing diplomatic conflict with the United States and reaffirmed his government’s commitment to keep up the pressure for constructive change in South Africa.

In addition to the policy and political discussions, we also heard testimony from farm attack victims and surviving family members, which added a deep emotional resonance to the event. Heidi Taljaard, Leon Lotz, and Amanda Platteach shared their stories of suffering and loss. Their pain was palpable and I was in awe of their courage.

The Vigil

After the conference, we made our way to the National Mall where volunteers were already busy erecting crosses on the grass strip between the Washington Monument and the White House. Still in my suit and tie from the conference, I got to work with a mallet and erected about a dozen crosses myself.

David Ansara erecting a cross for the White Cross Project Vigil (25 September 2026)

Each cross bore the name of a victim of a farm killing. The crosses themselves were carefully arranged in rows to form an even larger cross, which highlighted the scale of the crisis.

It was something to behold, and this newspaper described the scene in a moving editorial:

“Standing in the shadow of the Washington Monument and with Lincoln looking down at them, these great and good and brave people finally received a remembrance fitting of their sacrifice. The neat rows had an echo of Arlington National Cemetery, just across the Potomac River, which was fitting because Arlington is the most beautiful and sacred place on Earth, as it literally marks the price the world paid for freedom from tyranny and hate.”

There were many races and cultural identities represented on those crosses. This was taken as “proof” by the South African government and the obsequious media that there is no “white genocide” in the country, with the implication that this claim has been made by the likes of Lex Libertas, AfriForum, or the Solidarity Movement.

Except, that notion is false, and it has primarily been the South African government and press that have kept the white genocide strawman alive. This has distracted from what should have been a serious public discourse around the problem of rural violence.

Photo by David Ansara (25 September 2026)

The Lex Libertas team had expected to be toiling late into the night, but the hands of many volunteers – including passersby from the streets of DC – made for light work, and the sun was still high in the sky when the job was finally complete. At one point, a Marine One helicopter flew overhead, and we speculated that the American President himself was on board.

Men About Town

During our time in Washington DC, Dr Van Staden and I had meetings and gave presentations to a variety of likeminded organisations from across the American liberty movement, including the Centre for Freedom and Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Atlas Network, and the Cato Institute.

David Ansara speaking at the Cato Institute in Washington DC (Photo by Mark Oppenheimer, 24 September 2026)

In these engagements we presented the FMF’s Don Caldwell Memorandum on Socialism and Racial Engineering in “Post-Apartheid” South Africa. It was encouraging to observe the level of interest and to hear the expressions of solidarity for the cause of liberty and non-racialism in South Africa during these conversations.

We also briefed officials at the Department of State and the White House to discuss the situation in South Africa and to explore ways of resolving the ongoing diplomatic conflict between the governments of the United States and South Africa.

While I cannot disclose the contents of these discussions, I was struck by the detailed knowledge these officials had about the situation in South Africa. They have not been swayed by “misinformation” but have made an informed assessment of the situation in South Africa. Their concerns with our government’s misconduct are well substantiated.

Dr Ernst Roets and David Ansara after a meeting with officials at the White House (28 September 2026)

Criticism

Our trip was not without its critics. Some accused the FMF of engaging in “partisan” activism and abandoning our tradition of liberal individualism in favour of ethnic sectarianism or “identitarianism”.

Some of these criticisms were made in good faith; many were not.

On the first accusation of partisan activism, while the FMF has collaborated with many organisations since it was founded half a century ago, it remains fiercely independent. The FMF has subjected many political parties to criticism and has worked constructively with others.

However, non-partisanship does not imply that we are apolitical.

Assaults on liberty arise primarily – although not exclusively – from political sources. While research, dialogue, and debate are necessary, they may not always be sufficient to repel attacks on freedom.

Sometimes you must enter the messy arena of politics, lest you be relegated to the role of concerned bystander. Politics is not the exclusive preserve of political parties, and I am not content to sit idly by while this government undermines the rights of its citizens at home and seeks to destroy relations with one of our most important international partners.

The FMF is unafraid to adopt an activist posture and was therefore proud to make the case for non-racialism and the protection of private property rights at the White Cross Conference, as it has done on countless occasions at similar forums.

I also reject the criticism of ethnic sectarianism. My sense is that many Afrikaners feel a deep sense of existential anxiety about their place in the country and farm attacks represent the ultimate threat to their vital interests as a people.

No prominent Afrikaner organisation – certainly not those mentioned in this column – has advocated for the adoption of any kind of authoritarian race-based policies. They seek harmony, peace, and normality.

South Africa is a violent country, and crime affects everyone to varying degrees, but concern for farm attacks is not a negation of this fact. Demanding appropriate action to resolve a problem affecting one community does not mean caring less about other communities.

My question is this: are Afrikaners ever allowed to be victims per se given their perpetual status as perpetrators of past wrongs?

Liberalism is premised on the principle of voluntary association. Afrikaners have a right, as do other South Africans, to self-identify as a community and to engage in collective action to defend their basic interests. This is not incompatible with liberalism; and is often the very vindication of liberty.

Ansara is CEO of the Free Market Foundation.