*Why Russia Is Wooing South Africa's White Farmers, Washington Post

"Why Russia Is Wooing South Africa’s White Farmers," Washington Post, Sept. 24, 2018. *Excerpts:

KOSYAKOVO, Russia- Leon du Toit slowly inhales the late summer breeze off fields belonging to a dairy farm not far from Moscow. “Smells just like home,” the 72-year-old South African said.

That’s just what one Russian political figure hopes to hear. He is leading something of a charm offensive in South Africa with a very particular goal: hoping to lure white South Africans to move 8,000 miles away to rural Russia. The selling points are abundant farmland, relative safety and a country that holds tight to traditional Christian values. What is not said- but clearly understood- is how this fits neatly into the identity politics of Russian President Vladi­mir Putin.

The West may view Putin largely as a strategic and military adversary. Yet inside Russia, much of his support grows from the idea of Russia as the caretaker for a white, Christian and old-style order- rejecting “so-called tolerance, genderless and infertile,” in Putin’s own words in 2013.

Such comments have helped elevate Putin’s stature among populists and nativist-driven political movements in the West. And, within Russia, they have boosted the efforts of political insiders such as Vladimir Poluboyarenko, a government liaison from the Stavropol region in southern Russia. Poluboyarenko has taken the lead in organizing trips to Russia for white South Africans considering making a move.

The effort intersects with many issues. There is Russia’s declining population and worries about the influence of Islam on Russia’s borders. Add to that the unease among some white South African farmers as the country debates possible land redistribution to redress racial imbalances during apartheid. Poluboyarenko claims he funds the trips for the South Africans with his own savings, but such activity would almost certainly need the Kremlin’s blessing.

Du Toit, a missionary preacher, is weighing the offer. He and his 39-year-old son, Johannes du Toit, a former minister, came on a scouting mission. Whites still own the majority of land in South Africa, despite making up less than 10 percent of the population of 56 million. But du Toit represents the fears among some white farmers that the political trajectory of South Africa, such as the issue of land ownership, is not on their side.

The purported plight of white South Africans- long a rallying cry of global far-right movements- caught the attention of President Trump last month. After watching a segment about the issue on Fox News, he asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study the “large-scale killing” of white farmers and the government’s land expropriation issue. South Africa’s government denounced Trump’s remarks.

There are no figures made public on the number of South Africans who have moved to Russia or are considering it. Poluboyarenko, however, is a prominent voice for the outreach. He gained attention earlier this year after helping an 11-member German family, outraged by sex education in Western schools, to settle in Russia.

Addressing the du Toits at his “Motherland” dairy farm in Kosyakovo, about 60 miles southeast of Moscow, general director Mikhail Baranov told the father and son: “You can be sure of one thing. You won’t find liberalism here, but family values instead.”...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/why-russia-is-wooing-south-africa%e2%80%99s-white-farmers/ar-AAAxrdS



Afrikaner Leon du Toit, his son Johannes du Toit, Vladimir Poluboyarenko, aide to the Stavropol govt., & Mikhail Baranov, general director of the "Rodina" dairy farm, walk across the alfalfa fields in Kosyakovo, 60 miles southeast of Moscow.