Darryl Brown Responds to Trump’s Claims: “Those Crosses Were a Memorial, Not Graves”

• United States media company CBS’s 60 Minutes segment challenged the allegations of a white genocide against Afrikaner farmers
• In a report done on South Africa, it was revealed that the white crosses symbolising farm murders have been removed
• South Africans debated in the comment section, as some refuted the report and others continually slammed the white genocide allegations

Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News’ Deputy Head of Current Affairs, contributed coverage of international and local social issues, including health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests, and immigration in South Africa, during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

KWAZULU-NATAL — South Africans debated a CBS News segment about farm murders and United States President Donald Trump’s allegations of white genocide in the country. Some supported the findings of the report, while others severely refuted the claims.

60 Minutes interviewed KwaZulu-Natal farmer Darryl Brown, whose 82 year-old father was allegedly attacked on their farm in 2016. Brown’s friends were also murdered on their farm in 2021. Brown told the interviewer that he lived cautiously.

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60 minutes report challenges narrative of white farmer genocide in South Africa

Farm murder allegations challenged

The clip then showed United States President Donald Trump’s Washington meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2025, where he played a series of clips as proof of the alleged white genocide. One of the clips showed a row of crosses, which Trump claims were burial sites. However, in reality, the white crosses, which were planted on the P39-1 road between Newcastle and Normandien, were removed. The spot was not a burial site, despite the claims Trump made.

Farmer disputes Trump claims

Brown clarified that the site was not a burial site. He said he placed the crosses, which were removed less than 48 hours after they were planted. They were planted in honour of commercial farmers who had lost their lives. Brown keeps the crosses locked in a shed. The crosses were brought out when his friend, Toby Nel, was killed in an attack on his farm. His wife, Rene, witnessed his murder. Her son, Theunis, who survived the attack, now carries a firearm.

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View the clip on X here:

South Africans debate the segment

The short video 60 Minutes posted was not well-received, as a flurry of comments flooded the section.

Bateman said:

“No one thought they were actual bodies buried there, just that they represented the murdered, which is correct. Typical media with the misleading slant.”

Emmanuel pointed out:

“Wow, this really puts Trump’s claim into perspective. Those crosses weren’t permanent graves— just a temporary memorial. It shows how important it is to fact-check even the most striking visuals.”

Ernest Somolekae observed:

“I’m sure President Trump and his team have seen this already. They just don’t care and will continue peddling their false narrative to feed their egos.”

Unathi Afrika laughed.

“Did the murdered farmers rise from the dead and take away their crosses?”

Multibillionaire Elon Musk, who has accused the government of a white genocide, commented:

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“It’s much worse than people in America realise.”

Blue Georgia said:

"All Trump does is lie, and the cult laps it up."

3 Briefly News stories about farm murders

• AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel condemned the murder of the KwaZulu-Natal chairperson of the African Farmers Association of South Africa, Mbongeni Sikhakhane, on 30 December 2025. He called for a probe into farm murders.
• Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen rejected Trump’s claim of a white genocide in the country. This was after Trump doubled down on his claims that there is a white genocide in South Africa.
• South Africans slammed a clip of a British commentator claiming that white farmers are being hunted by gangs in South Africa. Katie Hopkins claimed that white people were also denied treatment at hospitals in the country.

Source: Briefly News