A News24 investigation has uncovered the true identity behind the influential X (formerly Twitter) account ‘@Twatterbaas,’ known for spreading fake news about farm attacks and promoting the idea that the South African government, and black South Africans, are targeting Afrikaners.
What News24 discovered about Sebastiaan Jooste
The man behind the account has been revealed as Sebastiaan Jooste, a 46-year-old guesthouse manager from Gordon’s Bay in the Western Cape.
On 1 April 2025, News24 confronted Jooste at his parents’ property. Initially, Jooste denied any link to the @Twatterbaas account. He showed reporters his phone, claiming he did not even have the X app installed. Jooste also suggested that friends may have used his photos without permission.
However, in a written response a week later, Jooste’s attorney, Wian Spies, admitted that Jooste was behind the account. Spies claimed Jooste had lied for “good reason” but did not elaborate.
News24 also exposed that Jooste had been misleading his nearly 160,000 followers.
One of Jooste’s recent posts on 28 April 2025, the day before the exposê was published, asked, “Do we as white Afrikaners have a future here, or shall we take our sons and daughters to another Country where we can work and build a future?”
This was typical of his posts that stoked fear and division among South Africans.
Former DA politician Phumzile van Damme reacted strongly to the exposé, posting,
“‘White genocide’ influencer @Twatterbaas exposed! He has masqueraded as a farm owner suffering ‘white persecution’ in SA. Turns out he has never owned land and works at a guesthouse. His tweets have been shared by Elon Musk and others, doing significant damage to our country.”
What we know about Jooste
Sebastiaan Jooste, 46, presented himself online as a struggling Afrikaner farmer under constant threat, feeding into harmful narratives about race relations in South Africa.
In reality, he manages a four-star guesthouse owned by his parents in Gordon’s Bay.
Despite presenting himself as a landowner, News24’s investigation confirmed that Jooste has never owned land in South Africa.
The “farms” he posted about were properties registered under his parents’ names. Jooste stopped any farming activities at least by mid-2024 when his family took over the guesthouse full-time.
His online persona helped fuel misinformation and stirred tensions about land ownership and racial relations in the country.
Posts from the @Twatterbaas account have been amplified by influential figures, including Elon Musk, potentially harming South Africa’s international reputation.
As of now, Jooste has gone silent on social media following News24’s revelations.