- A black farmer shared how an Afrikaner neighbour stepped in to help him with his 23,000-hectare farm when banks and businesses refused to fund him
- The farmer revealed that JP Meintjies, one of the biggest farmers in his area, gave him water, opened his books and helped with diesel on a handshake
- South Africans flooded the comments with their own stories of unexpected kindness across racial lines
Source: UGC
A black farmer's honest account of how white Afrikaner farmers came through for him when no one else would has moved South Africans to tears.
The clip, shared on 19 October 2026 by @penuel.clips on Instagram, shows a podcast-style interview between host Penuel and a black farmer who described what actually happened when he hit rock bottom with no funding and no way forward.
The farmer explained that after banks turned him away and no one would back him with his 23,000-hectare farm, he approached a friend. That man called his wife, they spoke quietly in Afrikaans, and then came back with an offer. He would help the farmer, provide inputs, send two of his machines to harvest at the end of the season, deduct what was owed, and hand over whatever remained as profit. All of it on a handshake.
Penuel, visibly moved, admitted the story made him emotional.
JP Meintjies and four seasons of generosity
The farmer went on to name his current neighbour, JP Meintjies, who he described as one of the biggest farmers in the area. After a stolen transformer left him without water for his sprayers, Meintjies told him to come and fetch water from his farm. That arrangement has quietly continued for four seasons. Meintjies also opened his books to the farmer, letting him sit with a full-time accountant and go through the numbers line by line. When diesel ran short, white farmers told him to fill up and settle when the money came in. When equipment broke, they fixed it and said the same.
Penuel added his own experience, describing the time his car broke down outside a small town and a young Afrikaans man in khakis, with dogs in the back of his vehicle, stopped without hesitation, towed him to a mechanic, and refused any payment.
"You can't tell those stories," Penuel said, "because they're not cool."
The farmer summed it up plainly: the narrative pushed from the far right on both sides does not reflect what is actually happening on the ground.
Watch the full interview below:
Mzansi responds with stories of their own
South Africans in the comments section on the Instagram page shared how the clip resonated with them:
@un_artstudios:
"It was an Afrikaner who helped my sister and me when the Master's High Court wanted to take 40% from my father's estate because he passed without a written will. Everyone in that office wanted us to take the deal and lose a paid-up bond house. The Afrikaner brother walked up to us and offered to call her lawyer lady, another Afrikaner. She handled our case, and we got everything without losing 40% of my father's estate."
@thamsbike:
"Shout out JP! This is us, this is South Africa."
@chante_daagliks:
"One of my colleagues always tells us to look at what is going on down here on the ground, how do we treat the everyday people we deal with, and how do they treat us because that is the heart of what is really going on. The politicians want to push a certain narrative and want us to believe certain things about each other that simply are not true."
@thato_1:
"I once got stuck in the middle of the highway, peak hours, and while many other cars passed by and overtook, a male Afrikaner parked his van in front of me and pulled me to the nearest garage."
@tinyiko_miyambo:
"This story is making me emotional. Afrikaners have made me to be who I am in the corporate, they helped me when I had nothing and transformed me to who I am today."
@elz.yakof16:
"These are stories which have to be told. Everybody is driving the narrative of racial hate and tension, but that is only a small section of the population. There is an entire other place, a world of solidarity and goodwill, and these worlds both exist side by side in SA. You can choose where to live."
@kathyravensees:
"On the other hand, I had a flat on the concrete highway, with my old, sick mom in the car. A taxi with 8 rather large and beautiful black South African guys; before I could even get the jack out of the boot myself, they stopped on a busy highway, changed the tyre in about 1 minute flat, and drove away."
More on South African farmers
- Briefly News recently reported on a Pretoria homesteader showing how he saves and harvests lettuce seeds, including his warning about seedless fruits and corporate seed control.
- An Afrikaner man recorded a motivational message for South African H-2A farmers working in the US from the beach in Langebaan.
- Major milk buyers have cut payments to dairy farmers by 70 cents per litre, and mass farm closures could push up retail prices.
Source: Briefly News
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