South African farm attacks
[2][3][5][1] The term has no formal legal definition, but such attacks have been the subject of discussion by media and public figures in South Africa and abroad.
[12] However, due to the lack of comprehensive data on the racial composition of farm households, it is unclear whether white farmers are being targeted in particular or if they face a disproportionate risk of being killed.
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 or intimidation, should be included.
The 2003 Report Of The Special Committee Of Inquiry Into Farm Attacks by the SAPS found that most incidents were driven by a desire for material gain and that "very few cases have political overtones.
[3] Johan Burger, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), has said that attacks were typically motivated not by race but by greed.
[41] Johan Burger of the Institute for Security Studies has stated that statistics provided by the TAUSA significantly under reports the number of violent attacks on farmers as they are not informed of incidents on smallholdings.
[45] In 2012, Reuters reported that the number of farmers of European descent had decreased by one third since 1997, and that news headlines about farm killings provided incentive for them to sell their properties.
[18] A 2012 report by the South African Institute of Race Relations estimated that farmers were between 2 and 3 times more likely to become victims of homicides than other members of society.
[52] Johan Burger of the Institute for Security Studies has said that the government's dismantling of the commando system had created a vacuum which the current rural safety plan was not addressing adequately.
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said that the military commando personnel were "unwilling to serve a black government and were hostile to democracy in South Africa", adding that "former commando members were politically indoctrinated and supplied with weapons and training to spy on blacks in their areas, making this military structure wholly unsuited to the new South Africa.
"In practice, however, the plan has significantly increased insecurity for black residents of and visitors to commercial farming areas, as they have become the targets of sometimes indiscriminate "anti-crime" initiatives ...
"[22] While the police are supposed to regularly visit commercial farms to ensure security, they say they cannot provide effective protection due to the wide areas that need to be covered and a lack of funding.
[56] A 2013 study from the University of the Free State concluded that this disbanding compromised rural security, as police have prioritised South Africa's urban crime problems.
[57] A spike in violent attacks on farmers in February 2017 led to one of the country's largest prayer meetings being held on 22–23 April 2017 in Bloemfontein, attracting over 1,000,000 participants.
[65] In October 2020, protesters stormed Senekal Magistrates Court, where two suspects were being held for the murder of farm manager Brendin Horner.
[70] The Suidlanders, a survivalist Afrikaner group preparing for a race war[71][72] predicted by Boer "prophet" Siener van Rensburg,[71] has taken credit for publicising the issue internationally after undertaking a tour of the United States in 2017.
[91] The Australian High Commissioner was subjected to a démarche by the South African Department of International Relations & Co-operation, which expressed offence at Dutton's statements, and demanded a retraction,[92][93] stating that "there is no reason for any government in the world to suspect that a section of South Africans is under danger from their own democratically elected government".
[97][98] However, Dutton reiterated his position that the farmers were persecuted, denied any retraction, and insisted that the Australian government was looking at "several" individual cases that may qualify for humanitarian visas,[99] stating that his critics were "dead to me".
[103] In August 2018, Fox News host Tucker Carlson commented that the South African government had disproportionately targeted white farmers during its ongoing land reform efforts due to anti-white racism.
[7] Following Carlson's segment, President Donald Trump instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers closely, tweeting: "South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers".
[15] Political officers of the American embassy in South Africa investigated the claims, consulting farmers, police, and academics for further information.
In a cable sent to the State Department, they concluded that there was "no evidence that murders on farms specifically target white people or are politically motivated" and that "[s]ome journalists and lobby groups have simplified complex land disputes to serve their own ends".
