On March 3, an interview was conducted by American political commentator Tucker Carlson, known for his alignment with MAGA conservatives and the far-right internationally. The interview featured Ernst Roets, a right-wing activist and deputy CEO of Afriforum, a South African non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting the interests of Afrikaners, who are descendants of Dutch colonizers that established apartheid in 1948.
The interview, which spanned over an hour, was marked by conspiracy theories, inaccuracies, and outright falsehoods. Carlson started the conversation with the contentious assertion that South Africa is “collapsing” due to a supposedly genocidally racist government.
The notion that South Africa’s government is instigating a “genocide” against its white minority is a baseless belief that has been propagated by several individuals, including billionaires like Elon Musk. Despite evidence to the contrary, including the dismissal of such claims by a South African court on February 25, 2023, this myth persists.
Carlson and Roets accepted South Africa as a failed state ridden with genocidal violence without question, using it as evidence of African alleged primitivity. Roets expressed that Africans are incapable of running a progressing democracy without white influence. In reality, South Africa has one of the most inclusive constitutions worldwide and a strong judiciary that advocates for human rights, as exemplified by the country’s stance on Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Since the end of apartheid 30 years ago, South Africa has made significant strides toward equality and integration. The African National Congress (ANC) has implemented affirmative action measures to combat the lingering effects of apartheid, including educational reform and land redistribution.
Despite the apartheid legacy, South Africa stands as a beacon for progress toward genuine equality, which is more advanced compared to the United States, which still struggles to achieve complete integration and equality years after the Civil Rights Act.
The divide in wealth between Black and white households in both South Africa and the United States shows little difference, indicating the slow progress toward equality in America. Organizations like AfriForum are working to undermine these efforts in South Africa, while the concept of a “white genocide” is used in the United States to stoke fear and undermine such advancements.
There is a parallel rise in white supremacist resistance to equality in both countries, with the conversation between Carlson and Roets being emblematic of a broader strategy to discredit South Africa’s achievements and bolster opposition to equal rights.
Therefore, the efforts to create a narrative of white victimhood and black aggression must be recognized and challenged by those who advocate for equality and inclusive democracy in both South Africa and the US.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/3/24/from-south-africa-to-the-us-white-victimhood-knows-no-borders?traffic_source=rss
