Farm Attacks In South Africa
2012
Commercial farming in South African contributes 2.6% of our total GDP (R113.4 billion) and employees around 10% of the total work force in South Africa (1.76 Million people). Our farms produce the food we eat and contribute a large part of our global exports.
Some report indicate that our farmers are being killed at a rate of 330 / 100000 people per year since 2008 (Six times higher that our already high murder rate) and the sheer violent uses during these attack indicate that there is something far more worrying going on, although there is no direct link to the ANC it must be noted that farm attacks and murders have seriously increased since Mr. Julius Sello Malema was elected as ANCYL.
Organisations within South Africa have been monitoring and reporting on farm attacks and have reported the following statistics. 1995 (1), 1997 (1), 1999 (1), 2000 (1), 2001 (2), 2002 (2), 2003 (2), 2004 (01), 2005 (1), 2006 (2), 2007 (1), 2008 (37), 2009 (465), 2010 (439), 2011 (551), 2012 to date (92). = 1599 farm attacks, 3158 people murdered.
Don’t worry the world is watching and there are several organisations and activists working to high light these issues to the world.
Unity is strength - All South Africans have the right to be free, protected against crime, have the right to be educated to a good standard, fair opportunity to the jobs available to them and last but not least share and enjoy South Africa’s beauty and wealth together as one.
South Africa and its people will only move forward is everybody respects all culture, colours, traditions and by everybody works together to overcome our home lands issue.
South Africa is one of the beautiful countries in the world and has wealth and an abundance of natural resource. Why can’t everybody work together and build the South Africa everybody wants to live in?
All South African should fight against all of the very things that are currently destroying our country, We should campaign to ensure the rest of the world aware of what is happening behind our rainbow coloured curtain and putting non -violent pressure on our government to deliver on what we have all dreamed about for centuries – a true democracy, a true rainbow nation that all people can share, prosper and enjoy.
We should be using this form to drive all our people forward into a bright future, toward a safer place to live, working together to build our economy and create job and uniting together in protest against poverty, inequality, crime, racism, corruption.
Power to our people, let’s all work together to build a brighter future for all our people. Please no racists – only South Africans that want the best for everybody.
God bless and protect all South African, each death should be seen as a national tragedy.
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Author: Frans Cronje, Lucy Holborn, Boitumelo Sethlatswe, SAIRR*|
11 October 2012
Farm attacks in South Africa – a new analysis
Comparisons between the rate of attack on farmers to that of other citizens in South Africa.
This Research and Policy Brief paper seeks to determine the extent to which farmers are uniquely vulnerable to armed attack in South Africa. It draws comparisons between the rate of attack on farmers and their families to that of other citizens in South Africa.
On 5 October 2012 the South African Institute of Race Relations released a statement on farm attacks in South Africa. The statement was based on farm attack data by the Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU). It has since been drawn to our attention by James Myburgh of www.politcsweb.co.za that the TAU data is compromised by a significant undercount of as much as 7:1 in terms of the actual number of farm attacks. Our initial analysis has therefore been revised accordingly. The revised analysis follows below.
The table below compares the farm attack rate for farmers and their families to the house robbery rate, aggravated robbery rate, and combined aggravated robbery and murder and attempted murder rates for the broader population. It is based on three assumptions. The first is that there are 47 000 commercial farmers in South Africa. This is based on StatsSA’s Census of Commercial Agriculture 2007. The second is that the average household size for farmers is 3. This is the average household size for white South Africans. The third is that, following from James Myburgh’s analysis, TAU undercounts farm attacks by an average of 7 to 1. The fourth is that attacks on smallholdings should be included as attacks on farms.
The table shows that based on those four assumptions the number of attacks on farmers and their dependants is 422/100 000. The number of house robberies in the broader population is 33/100 000. In this comparison farming families are 13 times more likely to be attacked than other families. However, farm attacks also include all forms of robbery and not just house robbery. For that reason the table also compares the farm attack rate to the broader armed robbery rate in the country. Here the farm attack rate, which remains at 422/100 000, must be compared to the national armed robbery rate of 200/100 000. In terms of this comparison farmers and their families are twice as likely to be attacked as other citizens. Farm attacks also involve murder and attempted murder. For this reason the table also compares the farm attack rate to the joint aggravated robbery/murder/attempted murder rate for the broader population. Here the farm attack rate, which remains at 422/100 000, can be compared to the national murder and aggravated robbery rate of 260/100 000. Even on this analysis farmers remain more vulnerable to attack by a ratio of 1.6 to 1.
However, the argument can be made that smallholdings are basically large urban plots and not really farms. For that reason we have published the table below which compares farm attacks, excluding attacks on smallholdings, to criminal attacks in the broader population. The other three assumptions made about the data (above) are unchanged.
This table shows that when smallholdings are taken out of the equation the farm attack rate declines to 262/100 000 farmers and their families. Compared to the national house robbery rate of 33/100 000 farmers are on this measure eight times more likely to be attacked than other citizens. However, the table shows that when this new farm attack rate is compared to the broader aggravated robbery rate of 200/100 000 this ratio comes down to 1.3 to 1. Furthermore, when the farm attack rate is compared to the broader aggravated robbery/murder/attempted murder rate of 260/100 000 that ratio reaches a level of parity of 1 to 1. In other words, on this measure farming families are no more likely to be attacked than other citizens.
We have also conducted an analysis of the murder of farmers, based on TAU’s more complete murder figures. In order to produce a figure for the highest possible murder rate the table below assumes that only the 47 000 farmers, and not their families, are targeted in farm murders.
On this measure the table shows that in 2011 some 68/100 000 farmers in the country were murdered. This compares to a national murder rate of 31/100 000. On this analysis farmers are twice as likely to be murdered as ordinary citizens. However, while farmers are particularly likely to be murdered, it is true that family members may also be murdered in attacks. It is for this reason that we have prepared the final table below, which compares the murder rate for farmers and their families to that of other citizens.
This table shows that in 2011 the murder rate for farmers and their families was 33/100 000. The murder rate for the broader population was 31/100 000. On this comparison farmers and their families are not more likely to be murdered than other citizens.
Keep in mind that our analysis has excluded the 220 000 emerging commercial farmers, some of whom are large producers, who may also be attacked. We have also excluded from this analysis farm managers and extended families that may live on farms and become victims of attack. Our figures therefore suggest worst-‐case scenarios for farming families.
What conclusions can be drawn? The first is that the past week has seen a sharp increase in the quality and level of analysis of farm attacks in South Africa. It has also focused considerable media attention on the problem. Both of these are good things.
The second is that it is possible to argue that farmers are uniquely vulnerable to attack contrary to our initial conclusions drawn from the incomplete TAU data. This is especially so where a straight comparison is drawn between the house robbery rate and the farm attack rate. The same is true for the murder rate of farmers (excluding family members).
The third is that by changing some assumptions it is possible to reach somewhat different conclusions. For example, it is reasonable to compare farm attacks, which is a term inclusive of robbery and murder, to the broader robbery and murder rates of the society. When this is done farmers remain more at risk, although by a smaller measure. However, it is when the assumptions shift to exclude smallholdings that the picture changes significantly. Then the comparisons suggest that farmers are not uniquely vulnerable to violent attack.
However, even this result should not be taken to suggest that farmers are safe. Analysts of our data must consider that South Africa’s crime rates are uniquely high. Our murder rate, for example, is 500% higher than that of the United States and 3000% higher than parts of Western Europe such as the United Kingdom and Germany. This brings us to our fourth conclusion that all South Africans face an extraordinary criminal onslaught. People who have previously regarded farm attacks as a somewhat distant problem, nothing to do with them, must realise that they arguably live in as much peril as farmers do. It is clear therefore, regardless of how they rank compared to other citizens, that as a best-‐ case scenario, farmers live a perilous existence in a largely lawless society.
The fifth conclusion is that, unlike urban middle class residents, farmers do not have the benefit of armed response companies or nearby police stations. Rather they depend on their own defences to secure themselves and their families. In addition, no analysis of the security position of farmers would be complete without noting the role of the State in exacerbating their vulnerability. The closure of the commandos and the Government and the African National Congress’s ambivalence at best toward the incitement by some of their own members to kill farmers creates an environment in which South Africa’s farmers are likely to be killed.
The final conclusion is that there can ultimately be no solution to farm attacks without a broader solution to the general problem of criminal violence in our society. In other words, farmers will not be safe until other citizens are safe and vice-‐versa. This is a point that advocacy groups can use to great effect in their important campaigns to alert policy makers and the international community to the murder of farmers in South Africa.
* This report was prepared by Frans Cronje, Lucy Holborn, Boitumelo Sethlatswe, SAIRR
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South African farm attacks
(From Wikipedia)
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Monument to victims of farm attacks
The South African farming community has suffered from attacks for many years. The majority of the victims have been Afrikaner farmers, with claims of death tolls of up to 3,000 cited in the national and international media.
While the government describes the attacks as simply part of the bigger picture of crime in South Africa, white farmers point to brutal attacks and incidents involving self-declared anti-white motivations as evidence of a campaign to drive them off their land.
In 2010, the issue garnered greater international attention in light of the murder of the far-right political figure Eugène Terre'Blanche on his farm.
Contents
1 Terminology and definition
2 Committee of Inquiry
3 Criticism
4 Prevention
5 "Shoot the boer" controversy
6 References
7 External links
Terminology and definition
South African statutory law does not define a "farm attack" as a specific crime. Rather, the term is used to refer to a number of different crimes committed against persons specifically on commercial farms or smallholdings.
According to the South African Police Service National Operational Co-coordinating Committee:
Attacks on farms and smallholdings refer to acts aimed at the person of residents, workers and visitors to farms and smallholdings, whether with the intent to murder, rape, rob or inflict bodily harm. In addition, all actions aimed at disrupting farming activities as a commercial concern, whether for motives related to ideology, labour disputes, land issues, revenge, grievances, anti-White concerns or intimidation, should be included.
This definition excludes "social fabric crimes", that is those crimes committed by members of the farming community on one another, such as domestic or workplace violence, and focuses on outsiders entering the farms to commit specific criminal acts. The safety and security MEC for Mpumalanga, Dina Pule, has disagreed with this definition and has stated that "farm attacks" only included those cases "where farm residents were murdered, and not cases of robberies or attempted murders.
" Human Rights Watch has criticized the use of the term "farm attacks", which they regard as "suggesting a terrorist or military purpose", which they consider to not be the primary motivation for most farm attacks.
On 15 September 2011, Genocide Watch placed South Africa at level 6, Preparation, saying "we have evidence of organized incitement to violence against White people".
However, on 2 February 2012, Genocide Watch returned South Africa to level 5, Polarization. As of 14 August 2012, Genocide Watch was resetting South Africa to level 6.
Genocide Watch stated that by 2001 "2.2 percent of ethno-European (White) farmers had already been murdered and more than... 12 percent of these farmers had been attacked on their farms".
As of December 2011 approximately 3,158 - 3,811 White farmers have been murdered in these attacks.
Committee of Inquiry
A Committee of Inquiry into Farm Attacks was appointed in 2001 by the National Commissioner of Police. The purpose of the committee was to "inquire into the ongoing spate of attacks on farms, which include violent criminal acts such as murder, robbery, rape, etc, to determine the motives and factors behind these attacks and to make recommendations on their findings".
The Committee used the definition for farm attacks as that supplied by the SAPS. The findings were published on 31 July 2003, and the main conclusions of the report were that:
Perpetrators tended to be young, unemployed black men overwhelmingly from dysfunctional family backgrounds.
Only a small proportion of attacks involved murder.
Monetary theft occurred in 31.2% of the attacks[1], firearms were stolen in 23.0%[1], and 16.0% of farm attacks involved vehicular thefts[1]. The committee noted that "there is a very common misconception that in a large proportion of farm attacks nothing is stolen"
and "various items are stolen in by far the greater majority of cases, and, in those cases where nothing is taken, there is almost always a logical explanation, such as that the attackers had to leave quickly because help arrived."
White people were the majority of the victims of these attacks, but others were also victims; in 2001 61% of farm attack victims were White, yet White people make up only 9,2% of the population.
The total number of reported attacks was about 2,500, while farmers’ organizations state the figure to be closer to 3,000.
The Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU) questioned a number of the report's findings, claiming that theft and desire for land did not adequately explain some of the attacks. Additionally, between 2005 and 2009, the rate of rural murders had increased by 25%.
Criticism
The South African government has been criticized both for doing little to prevent farm attacks, and for giving the issue a disproportionate amount of attention:
Gideon Meiring, chairperson of the TAU's safety and security committee, criticized the South African Police Service for failing to prevent farm attacks, stating that the police "are not part of the solution but part of the bloody problem". Meiring has assisted farming communities in setting up private armed patrols in their area.
Kallie Kriel of AfriForum accused politicians, including Agriculture Minister Lulu Xingwana and her deputy Dirk du Toit, of inciting hatred against farmers, saying "Those who inflame hate and aggression towards farmers have to be regarded as accomplices to the murders of farmers." In particular, Kriel condemned claims that violence against farm workers by farmers was endemic. Kriel also highlighted a court case in which ANC MP Patrick Chauke publicly blamed White people for murders and at which ANC demonstrators displayed slogans such as "One settler, one bullet!", "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer!" and "Maak dood die wit man" (Kill the white man). Simple theft could not be used to explain the full motive of the attacks as it was not necessary to torture or murder victims in order to rob them.
Human Rights Watch criticized the government for placing too much emphasis on protecting farmers, at the expense of protecting farm workers from abuse by farm owners. They suggest that "farm attacks" are given a disproportionately high media and political focus. "Murders on farms (of owners, or of workers by owners) are given an individual attention that some other killings are not."
In 2004, former South African journalist Jani Allan appeared on the Jeff Rense radio show to 7 million listeners. She denounced the attacks and accused the South African government of a genocidal campaign. She encouraged Americans to sponsor the emigration of poverty-stricken Afrikaner families. Ronnie Mamoepa, the spokesperson for the South African foreign affairs department, said the department would refuse to respond to Allan's claims, as this would give her "undue attention she does not deserve". Afrikaner Hermann Giliomee has also slammed Allan. He said Allan should not be taken seriously. While there had been large numbers of farm murders, there was no evidence to prove that the killings were an orchestrated political campaign, he said.
Prevention
While the police are supposed to regularly visit commercial farms to ensure security, they claim they can't provide effective protection due to the wide areas that need to be covered and a lack of funding. The protection gap has been filled by 'Farmwatch' groups which link together by radio nearby farmers who can provide mutual assistance, local Commando volunteers, and private security companies. These forces are more likely to be able to respond rapidly to security alarms than widely-distributed police stations. The particular mix of groups that operate varies by area, with border zones continuing a strong history of Commando volunteers, while wealthier farmers are more likely to employ private security firms. The police and these groups are linked together as part of the Rural Protection Plan,[18] created in 1997 by President Nelson Mandela.[4] However, in 2003 the government began disbanding commando units, on the rationale that they had been "part of the apartheid state's security apparatus".
Afrikaners able to flee have been forced to migrate to countries they consider safer, such as Georgia.
"Shoot the boer" controversy
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In March 2010, at a rally on a university campus, the former president of the African National Congress Youth League Julius Malema sang the lyrics "shoot the boer" (Dubul' ibhunu[21] – "Boer" is the Afrikaans word for "farmer", but is also used as a derogatory term for Afrikaners). His singing was compared to similar chants by deceased Youth League leader Peter Mokaba in the early 1990s, "kill the boer",. which had previously been defined as hate speech by the South African Human Rights Commission.[25] Recently, Julius Malema was summoned for the criminal offence of hate speech by Solidarity and Afriforum in the Southern Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg to explain his actions.
On 16 May 2011 the judge in the case ruled that the use of the phrase was incitement to genocide.[26] In 2011 Afriforum youth and the Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU SA) brought an application forward against ANC youth league leader Julius Malema at the equality court over his singing of the song. Afriforum argued that "Boer" referred either to Afrikaners or farmers and that Malema was a public and influential leader, openly singing lyrics that incited violence towards an ethnic group, which constituted hate speech. TAU said, that it was not about the intent but how the message was perceived by the targeted group or the group that felt targeted. ANC lawyers argued that the contentious lyrics were taken completely out of context and that he word "ibhunu" or even "boer" did not refer to Afrikaners, but to the system of apartheid.
Expert witnesses stated that the chant, the words, could spur to violence, especially marginalised people. On 12 September 2011, Judge Lamont ruled that the singing of the words shoot the boer amounted to hate speech. He also declared the singing of the song in any capacity to be illegal stating that he finds no possible justifications for singing the song. The ANC has announced that they will appeal the ruling.
On 8 January 2012, after giving a speech at the ANC Centennial 2012 celebrations in Bloemfontein, South Africa, president Jacob Zuma sang the same "shoot the Boer" that had been the subject of Julius Malema's hate speech conviction.[29][30][31][32]
References
^ a b c d e f g h Criminal Justice Monitor (2003-07-31). Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Farm Attacks. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
^ Dan McDougall (2010-03-28). "White farmers 'being wiped out'". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
^ Adriana Stuijt (2009-02-17). "Two more S.African farmers killed: death toll now at 3,037". Digital Journal. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
^ a b Suzanne Daley (16 July 1998). "Rural White South Africa: Afraid, and Armed". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
^ Eugene Terre'Blanche, opponent of White farm murders is hacked to death The Guardian. 4 April 2010
^ Nkosana ka Makaula (2006-09-28). "Farm attack is 'only if fatal'". News24. Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
^ http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2001/safrica2/Safarms1.htm
^ a b Bronwen Manby (August 2001). Unequal Protection - The State Response to Violent Crime on South African Farms. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 1-56432-263-7. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
^ a b c http://www.genocidewatch.org/southafrica.html
^ McDougall, Dan (2010-03-28). "White farmers being subject to conditions of genocide". The Times (London).
^ "Two more S.African farmers killed: death toll now at 3,037". Digital Journal. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
^ "Afrikaner Genocide Archives". Retrieved 2011-11-25.
^ a b South Africa World Cup 2010... and the shooting's already started Daily Mail. 14 June 2009
^ "TAU welcomes farm report, but...". News24. 2003-09-25. Retrieved 2005-12-31.
^ Sheena Adams (2006-09-23). "Farmer armies in the killing fields". Saturday Star. Retrieved 2006-10-27.
^ Gcina Ntsaluba (2008-04-29). "Anti-White hate speech slated". news24.com. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
^ "White people are facing genocide, says Jani Allan". IOL. 2004-06-20.
^ Bronwen Manby (2002), "A Failure of Rural Protection", Transformation (49): 92–94, ISSN 0258-7696
^ "In-depth: Civilian Protection in Armed Conflict". IRIN. 3 March 2003.
^ Brooke, James. "Afrikaner Farmers Migrating to Georgia." Voice of America. 15 September 2011. Retrieved on 15 October 2011.
^ Malema silent as ANC stops race songs Times
^ The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/03/world/AP-AF-South-Africa-White-Supremacist.html.[dead link]
^ 'Retaliation may follow Terre'Blanche murderIOL
^ a b How Juju got his mojo back; Times Live, 24 Apr 2011, By Solly Maphumulo
^ AfriForum Youth asks FIFA to stop praising Mokaba and to commemorate the victims of farms murders and Aids, By Lelanie Roets on 24 May 2010 Afriforum website
^ "'Shoot the boer' decision a blow to the ANC". Times Live. 17 May 2011.
^ http://www.iol.co.za:80/news/crime-courts/an-innocent-chant-or-threat-to-afrikaners-1.1135496
^ http://mg.co.za/article/2010-10-24-anc-challenges-shoot-the-boer-ban
^ http://www.iol.co.za/news/special-features/the-zuma-era/complaint-laid-against-zuma-1.1242416
^ http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/383404804a48659d9b959f8f72c0ef2b/Rightwing-movement-to-lay-hate-speech-charge-against-Zuma-20120224
^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8567727.stm
^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/15/anc-julius-malema-guilty-hate-speech
External links
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Genocide Watch - South Africa
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