Peter Dutton has faced increased pressure to allow relatives of Australians dealing with racially charged attacks in South Africa into the country.
A fast-track plan to bring up to 10,000 South African farmers to Australia has been put to the Immigration Minister in a push to remove at-risk families from danger.
The call followed the South African Government’s revelation it would be working to transfer farming land back into the hands of black citizens.
Peter Dutton (pictured) has received a letter calling on between 5000 and 10,000 South African farming families to be accepted into the country as part of a fast-track visa regime
Mr Dutton received a written letter requesting he overhauled existing visa rules and provide humanitarian assistance to families still living in South Africa.
Community spokesman, Arno Nel penned the letter, drawing attention to the matter of white South Africans having their land expropriated without compensation.
Mr Nel agreed with Mr Dutton’s comments on the plight of farmers who claimed they were suffering targeted and brutal attacks at the hands of black citizens.
‘The Australian government should be aware that many Australian citizens with South African heritage have families that are in constant danger,’ the letter stated.
‘We hope that Australia will extend the privilege of living in Australia to those families of Australian citizens who are facing this danger, by creating a family visa that is low-cost and not subject to age and other conditions.’
Mr Nel, whose parents were attacked in the northern city of Pretoria five years ago, called on the Government to ‘fast-track the immigration of South African farmers to Australia on humanitarian and protection visa programs’.
White farmers control 73 percent of arable land compared with 85 percent when apartheid ended in 1994, according to a recent study. Pictured is South African farmer Piet Swanepoel
‘We cannot be prescriptive to the Australian government about the type and measure of assistance that should be offered, and we understand that treatment should be fair,’ it read.
‘However, it is worth pointing out that South African families in Australia have shown self-sufficiency, low maintenance and remarkable integration.’
The letter came after the Government drew criticism from Labor and Greens MPs for contemplating putting an end to the non-discriminatory humanitarian visa regime.
Mr Nel highlighted the struggle of his own parents, who weren’t farmers but were attacked in their own home and brutally tortured by intruders.
‘These people came into their house. They brutally attacked my dad. They stripped him naked and put a pistol to his head and three times they pulled the trigger and three times the pistol misfired.
Mr Nel agreed with Mr Dutton’s comments on the plight of farmers who claimed they were suffering targeted and brutal attacks
‘They then tied them up on the floor with a telephone cord. He chewed through this cord eventually. He untied my mum. He couldn’t get up because he was hit over his head with a metal pipe.’
A speaker read the poignant letter at Sunday’s march to support South African farmers in Perth.
The campaign has gained the support of Liberal MPs, who urged the Australian Government to accept a special intake of between 5000 and 10,000 people.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last month said he wanted the issue of the transfer of land from white to black owners to be resolved ‘once and for all’.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (pictured) last month said he wanted the issue of the transfer of land from white to black owners to be resolved ‘once and for all’
Ramaphosa said after his inauguration in March he would speed up the transfer of land to black people, providing food production and security was preserved.
‘We are going to address this and make sure that we come up with resolutions that resolve this once and for all,’ he said.
‘This original sin that was committed when our country was colonised must be resolved in a way that will take South Africa forward.’
White farmers control 73 percent of arable land compared with 85 percent, when the apartheid system ended in 1994.