POLOKWANE – South African lobby group Lex Libertas has launched an international campaign, in partnership with the New York Young Republican Club, to highlight farm murders by planting thousands of crosses on Washington DC’s National Mall later this month.

The sight will be familiar to Limpopo residents who drive past the White Cross Monument on the N1 between Mokopane and Polokwane.

A decades-old memorial

The monument of 3 000 white crosses staked into the ground on a barren hillside has stood on a patch of private land for more than two decades; each cross a quiet memorial to a victim of farm violence.

Conservative commentators in the United States have used images of the memorial to argue that white farmers are being systematically targeted, a claim the South African government and experts reject.

A contested symbol

Critics argue that the display focuses only on white victims and does not reflect the hundreds of Black South African farmers and farmworkers who have also been killed.

According to crime statistics cited by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, farm killings account for a small fraction of South Africa’s overall violent crime, and most occur during armed robberies rather than being racially motivated.

What happens next

The Washington event is scheduled for September 26, 2026, on the National Mall directly in front of the US Capitol.

Lex Libertas has invited the White House, the US State Department, media and think tanks.