President Cyril Ramaphosa has criticised South Africans who he claims “[travel] to foreign capitals to spread the falsehood of a ‘white genocide’ and discourage investment in one’s own country”, days after bereaved families gathered in Washington as part of the White Cross Project, a campaign that aims to highlight issues of rural safety in South Africa. The project, organised by South African advocacy group Lex Libertas with the New York Young Republican Club and other partners, displayed 3 000 white crosses on the National Mall to commemorate victims of farm murders and draw international attention to farm attacks.

Ramaphosa made the comments in his weekly newsletter yesterday, two days after the Washington vigil. He did not name the White Cross Project, Lex Libertas, or any of the people who travelled to Washington to support the campaign.

His criticism formed part of a broader warning about rhetoric that he said could deepen divisions in South Africa. Ramaphosa said that “language that glorifies killing or encourages hostility has no place in our public life”.

The Washington programme, however, was built around the experiences of people directly affected by farm attacks. Amanda Platt, Heidie Taljaard, and Leon Lotz were among those who travelled to the United States (US) to describe how attacks had affected them and their families. The programme began with a conference on Friday and ended with the public vigil on the National Mall the following day.

While Ramaphosa continues to cast the project and its supporters as claiming that there is a “white genocide” in South Africa, none have made this claim. Organisers of the White Cross Project said it focused on farm attacks and rural safety, political incitement to violence, racial exclusion through legislation, and threats to property rights. It also presented proposals centred on greater local control and self-government.

Lex Libertas says thousands of people attended the vigil, including victims and their families, researchers, media organisations, and representatives from the White House, US State Department, and other government departments.

The crosses are now due to return to South Africa. Lex Libertas says it intends to seek permission to display them outside the Union Buildings, bringing the campaign Ramaphosa criticised abroad directly to the seat of his government.