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The Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum says it would have preferred a Republican candidate to become president of the United States, because Republican principles resonate more with its members who are “classical conservatives.”
“There are certain issues that are important to the Republican Party that resonate with AfriForum members, particularly economic issues. AfriForum, in a way, could be described as classically conservative. Our views are similar to those expressed by Alexis de Tocqueville when he wrote Democracy in America, which is probably something that resonates more with the Republican Party than with the Democrat, “said AfriForum leader Ernst Roets.
The group had previously lobbied the Donald Trump administration to support its call against uncompensated land grabbing and farm killings.
This caught the attention of Trump in 2018, who posted on social media that he would ask the secretary of state to study the proposed expropriation of the land policy, stating that South Africa was “now confiscating land from white farmers.”
I asked the secretary of state @SecPompeo study closely the confiscations and expropriations of land and farms in South Africa and the large-scale slaughter of farmers. “The South African government is now confiscating land from white farmers.” @TuckerCarlson @Fox News
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 23 Aug 2018
Since then, the secretary of state had compiled a report on the issue, which was presented to the White House, Roets said. The citizen. However, he said it was unlikely to be published.
“All AfriForum wanted was for the US government to put pressure on South Africa by using the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. [AGOA] trade agreement as a lever. The agreement respected property rights and promoted the free market, which South Africa was breaking through expropriation without compensation, ”said Roets.
But now that Trump was leaving the White House, President-elect Joe Biden was unlikely to act, he said.
“Someone like Trump would more easily say ‘they’re breaking the deal, so let’s kick them out.’ I think Biden would be more hesitant to do that. But we don’t want to be kicked out of the deal. We would like this agreement to be used as a lever, ”said Roets.
He said, however, that the group was engaging with Democrats on protecting minority rights.
But if Biden were to officially take the reins next year, this would have little impact on AfriForum, as they had already established relationships with various think tanks, organizations, and members of the Republican and Democratic parties.
“We have had meetings with people in the State Department under the Trump administration. Many of those people will stay there because many of them are there regardless of who the president is. I don’t think it’s going to have a huge impact on our network in Washington, regardless of who the president is. “
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