Three Thousand Crosses, Three Thousand Names: White Cross Project Brings South African Farm Attack Victims to Washington

On September 26, 2026, Washington, D.C. is scheduled to become the setting for a large public memorial connected to the White Cross Project, an initiative focused on remembering people killed during farm attacks in South Africa and bringing attention to the experiences of affected families and rural communities.

Approximately 3,000 white crosses are planned for display on the National Mall, with each cross intended to carry the name of a victim. The project is organized by South African public policy organization and advocacy group Lex Libertas, in partnership with the New York Young Republican Club and other partners.

The memorial is scheduled to follow a White Cross Project conference on September 25 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., where survivors, researchers, legal experts and civil society figures are expected to discuss farm attacks, rural safety, political incitement, race based legislation and property rights.

Putting Names Behind the Numbers

The central idea behind the White Cross Project is to present individual names rather than leaving the issue as a collection of statistics.

Lex Libertas released a preliminary list in August containing more than 2,203 identified and verified victims, explaining that the research committee used sources including court records, archived media reports, genealogical records and independent victim databases. The organization has also invited members of the public to provide corrections and additional information.

The planned 3,000 crosses are intended to commemorate victims of farm murders and communicate what organizers describe as the human cost of farm attacks to an international audience.

The physical scale of the memorial is central to its message. Thousands of individual crosses placed together are intended to make the number of victims visible while emphasizing that each name represents an individual life and a family affected by loss.

Survivors Will Share Their Experiences

The Washington program will also include people directly affected by farm attacks.

According to Lex Libertas, Amanda Platt, Heidie Taljaard and Leon Lotz are scheduled to participate in the September 25 conference and September 26 vigil. Each is expected to bring a different personal perspective on the consequences of farm attacks.

Their participation adds personal testimony to a program that also includes policy and legal discussions.

Lex Libertas Executive Director Dr. Ernst Roets has emphasized that the project is intended to ensure international audiences hear from people whose lives have been directly affected, rather than viewing the subject only through statistics or political debate.

A Two Day Program in Washington

The White Cross Project’s Washington program is scheduled across September 25 and 26.

The first day will take place at the National Press Club, where speakers are expected to address several issues connected to the organizers’ campaign. These include farm attacks and rural safety, political incitement, race based legislation, threats to property rights and possible constitutional approaches to those issues.

Among the announced speakers are Dr. Ernst Roets, Stefano Forte of the New York Young Republican Club, David Ansara of the Free Market Foundation, Dr. Martin van Staden, Advocate Mark Oppenheimer and Dr. James Myburgh.

The conference is also expected to include extracts from Crossed Out: Confronting Persecution in South Africa, a documentary produced as part of the wider White Cross Project.

The White Cross Project Goes Beyond the Memorial

The planned memorial is one component of a larger campaign.

According to Lex Libertas, the White Cross Project includes research, documentary filmmaking, public events and policy engagement. The organization has also launched a petition campaign connected to its broader proposals concerning political decentralization and self governance in South Africa.

The campaign’s published plan includes international conferences, public exhibitions, efforts to mobilize institutions and a request for a U.S. congressional hearing concerning the issues highlighted by the project.

These proposals represent the organizers’ stated policy objectives. Other South African political actors and institutions have different interpretations of the country’s rural violence, racial politics and broader political conditions, making the subject a contested area of public debate.

A Documentary Adds Another Dimension

The White Cross Project also includes the documentary ** Crossed Out: Confronting Persecution in South Africa **.

Lex Libertas says the film examines farm murders, political incitement, race based legislation, property rights and wider questions surrounding South Africa’s political system. It features farm attack survivors as well as researchers, legal experts and civil society figures.

The documentary is intended to provide international audiences with additional context surrounding the issues represented by the memorial and conference.

Remembering Victims Through a Public Memorial

The White Cross Project’s use of physical memorials places remembrance at the center of its Washington program.

Each planned cross is intended to carry a victim’s name, creating a visual representation of individual loss. The organizers have emphasized the importance of accurately identifying those names and have asked families and members of the public to provide corrections or missing information.

That process highlights an important distinction between a numerical estimate and a named memorial. A number communicates scale, while a name connects the memorial to a specific person and family.

A Conversation About Safety, Justice and Policy

The September 25 conference and September 26 vigil are designed to connect remembrance with a broader discussion about rural safety and political and legal questions in South Africa.

For the organizers, the memorial is intended to increase international awareness and encourage discussion about potential solutions. Their stated campaign agenda includes decentralization and self governance as part of their proposed response.

The event therefore combines several different forms of public engagement: survivor testimony, research, policy discussion, documentary storytelling and memorialization.

Three Thousand Crosses, Thousands of Stories

The White Cross Project is preparing to bring a highly visible memorial to Washington, D.C. on September 26, 2026.

The planned display of approximately 3,000 white crosses will place the names of South African farm attack victims at the center of a public event designed by its organizers to encourage international attention. A conference the previous day will provide a forum for survivors, researchers and legal and civil society figures to discuss the issues surrounding the project.

Whatever perspectives people bring to the wider political debate surrounding South Africa, the Washington program is built around a simple memorial concept: placing individual names in public view.

For the families connected to those names, remembrance is not an abstract issue. It is connected to people who lived, worked, loved, raised families and left communities behind.

The White Cross Project seeks to make those individual stories visible while opening a wider conversation about rural safety, victim experiences and possible policy responses.

On September 26, Washington will provide the setting for that conversation, with thousands of white crosses serving as its central visual memorial.