South Africa has demanded that Australia's Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton retract comments that suggested white farmers were being persecuted and deserved protection with special visas from a "civilised country".
Pretoria hauled in Canberra's high commissioner for a diplomatic ticking off over Mr Dutton's remarks, which also included a description of white farmers facing "horrific circumstances", a characterisation South Africa has rejected.
"The South African government is offended by the statements which have been attributed to the Australian Home Affairs Minister and a full retraction is expected," the foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Commenting this week on a documentary about violent rural crime in South Africa, Dutton said the farmers deserved "special attention", according to the Sydney Morning Herald and other Australian media.
"I do think, on the information that I've seen, people do need help and they need help from a civilised country like ours," Dutton said.
He also pointed to plans by new President Cyril Ramaphosa to allow expropriation of land as a solution to the massive land ownership inequalities that remain more than two decades after the end of apartheid.
Speaking to parliament this week, Mr Ramaphosa said South Africa was not heading down the road towards the type of violent and chaotic seizure of white-owned farms that triggered economic collapse in Zimbabwe nearly 20 years ago.
Although violent crime is a serious issue across South Africa, killings on farms, the vast majority of which are white-owned, has become a particularly racially charged issue.
