Kill the Boer Read online

  Copyright © Published edition Kraal Uitgewers Copyright © Text AfriForum, Ernst Roets

  First Edition, 2018, Kraal Uitgewers

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (whether electronically or by means of photocopying, recording, microfilming or by any other information storage or retrieval system, except in the case of reasonable citations for research and book review purposes) without the publisher’s prior permission in writing.

  Set in Bembo 11 over 15pt

  Cover design: Rozier van Tonder

  Layout: Hannelie du Preez

  Editing: Wilna Liebenberg

  Proofreading: George F. de Bruin

  Printed and bound by Business Print, Pretoria

  ISBN: 978-0-9947159-7-5

  Contributer: Lorraine Claasen

  Kraal Uitgewers (part of the Solidarity Movement)

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  PO Box 11760, Centurion, 0046

  For more information on this and other publications of

  Kraal Uitgewers, contact the publisher at:

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  012 880 1953

  This book is dedicated to the memory of

  Wilmien Potgieter

  Ephesians 6:12

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  This is personal

  Editor's notes

  A land of sorrow

  What is a farm attack?

  Frequency: What are the numbers?

  Brutality: How bad does it get?

  Remoteness: Unique circumstances

  Unique role: Why we cannot afford farm murders

  Remoteness: Unique circumstances

  A closer look

  The question of motive

  Swords, shields and spears

  Apartheid and dispossession

  Zeitgeist

  A scourge of racism

  Land and labour

  Kill the Boer, kill the farmer

  Shoot the Boer

  Media complicity

  How farm attacks were dropped from the agenda1

  A cold shoulder

  Investigating farm attacks

  Prioritising farm attacks

  Fighting back

  The question of genocide

  It’s not over

  ABBREVIATIONS

  AFASA African Farmers’ Association of South Africa

  AFU African Farmers’ Union

  Agri SA Agriculture South Africa

  AI Amnesty International

  ANC African National Congress

  ANCWL African National Congress Women’s League

  ANI AfriForum Research Institute

  (Afrikaans: AfriForum Navorsingsinstituut)

  AWB Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging

  (English: Afrikaner Resistance Movement)

  BLF Black First Land First

  CIAC Crime Information Analysis Centre

  CoGTA Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

  COPE Congress of the People

  COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions

  CP Conservative Party

  CPF Community Policing Forum

  CPUT Cape Peninsula University of Technology

  DA Democratic Alliance

  DAC Department of Arts and Culture

  DAFF Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

  DL Department of Labour

  DLA Department of Land Affairs

  DIRCO Department of International Relations and Cooperation

  DP Department of Police

  DRDLR Department of Rural Development and Land Reform

  EFF Economic Freedom Fighters

  FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation

  FF Plus Freedom Front Plus

  HRW Human Rights Watch

  HSRC Human Sciences Research Council

  ICC International Criminal Court

  ICD Independent Complaints Directorate

  ICJ International Court of Justice

  ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

  IFP Inkatha Freedom Party

  IJR Institute of Justice and Reconciliation

  ILO International Labour Organization

  IPID Independent Police Investigative Directorate

  IRCT International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims

  IRR Institute of Race Relations

  ISS Institute for Security Studies

  ITI In Transformation Initiative

  JCPS Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster

  JOINTS Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure

  JSE Johannesburg Stock Exchange

  Kwanalu KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union

  LPM Landless People’s Movement

  MK Umkhonto we Sizwe

  MMC Member of the Mayoral Committee

  MP Member of Parliament

  MSM Mainstream media

  NAFU National African Farmers Union

  NCPS National Crime Prevention Strategy

  NDP National Development Plan

  NDR National Democratic Revolution

  NGO Non-governmental organisation

  NIA National Intelligence Agency

  NOCOC National Operational Coordinating Committee

  NPA National Prosecuting Authority

  NP National Party

  NRSS National Rural Safety Strategy

  NWU North-West University

  PFP Progressive Federal Party

  PRVG Promotion of the Rights of Vulnerable Groups

  RPP Rural Protection Plan

  SAAU South African Agricultural Union

  SACCI South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry

  SAHRC South African Human Rights Commission

  SAICE South African Institution of Civil Engineering

  SAJEI The South African Judicial Education Institute

  SANDF South African National Defence Force

  SAPS South African Police Service

  SASCO South African Students Congress

  SC Senior Counsel

  SRC Student Representative Council

  SRI Solidarity Research Institute

  SSA State Security Agency

  TAU SA Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa

  UCT University of Cape Town

  UJ University of Johannesburg

  UN United Nations

  UNCAT United Nations Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

  UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

  UP University of Pretoria

  US Stellenbosch University

  USA United States of America

  VOC Vereenighde Oost-Indische Compagnie

  WFDY World Federation of Democratic Youth

  WFO World Farmers’ Organisation

  Wits University of the Witwatersrand

  ZAR Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek

  (English: South African Republic)

  LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND MAPS

  Figures

  SAPS data on farm attacks and farm murders: 2001/2002–2006/2007

  SAPS data on farm attacks and farm murders: 1996/1997–2016/2017

  TAU SA data on farm attacks and farm murders: 1990–2016Total number of murders committed in South Africa: 2007/2008–2016/2017

  South African murder rate, calculated as the number of people murdered per 100 000 per year

  Murder rate per 100 000 of selected countries, compared to that of South Africa

  Employment in agriculture: 2001–2016

  Agriculture’s ‘triple challenge’

  Farm attacks per province: 1990–2012

&
nbsp; Farm attacks per province: 2010/2011–2015/2016, according to the SAPS with total number of attacks over period per province indicated

  Farm murders per province: 2010/2011–2015/2016, according to the SAPS

  Monthly distribution of farm attacks: 1998–2001 (CIAC)

  Daily distribution of farm attacks: 2000–2001 (CIAC)

  Hourly distribution of farm attacks: 2001 (CIAC)

  Most prevalent crimes committed, indicated as a proportion of all farm attacks in 2001

  Division of victims (1990–2012) according to age groups

  Analysis of murder victims by TAU SA

  Benefits to permanent farm workers in the Western Cape

  Comparing: on-farm houses and off-farm houses in the Western Cape

  Farm murders per week during 1993

  Farm murders per week during 2010

  Media reporting and racial characteristics (Afrikaans and English media)

  Media reporting and racial characteristics (Afrikaans media)

  Media reporting and racial characteristics (English media)

  Reporting of known incidents, according to race

  Average media mentions by number of deaths (white-on-black)

  Average media mentions by number of deaths (black-on-white)

  Average media mentions by number of deaths (black-on-black)

  Mention of race by media outlet

  Names not mentioned in the media though known, according to race

  Media illustrations of victim or perpetrator, according to race

  Most prevalent propositions on race in the South African media

  Tables

  Stations identified by the SAPS as hotspots for farm attacks: 2015/2016

  Monthly distribution of farm attacks: 1998–2001 (CIAC)

  Daily distribution of farm attacks: 2000–2001 (CIAC)

  Hourly distribution of farm attacks: 2001 (CIAC)

  Most prevalent crimes committed, indicated as a proportion of all farm attacks in 2001

  Modus operandi during farm attacks, as identified by the SAPS

  Analysis of murder victims by TAU SA

  Symptoms found among victims after farm attacks

  Victims’ perception of motive

  Motivations for farm attacks, according to the Committee of Inquiry into Farm Attacks: 2003

  Variance in farm attacks and murders after Peter Mokaba’s chanting of ‘Kill the Boer, kill the farmer’

  Media mentions per incident, by crime categories

  Media reporting and racial characteristics – summary of all incidents

  Media reporting of white-on-black incidents, categorised according to the type of incident

  Media reporting and race (Afrikaans media)

  Media reporting and race (English media)

  Number of persons killed in known incidents, according to race

  Comparing media coverage per incident

  Convicted SAPS personnel by crime category: 2013

  Maps

  Map of South Africa

  Homicide rates by country or territory (2012 or latest year, excluding 2016/2017 data)

  Farm murders plotted on a map of South Africa

  Early human migrations, indicating the ‘Out of Africa’ theory

  Map 1: Map of South Africa

  (Source: WikiCommons, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), CIA World Factbook 2015)

  PREFACE

  This is personal

  My grandfather was a farmer. So was his father before him. So is his son and today also the sons of his son. I grew up in the agricultural community of Tzaneen in Limpopo, where I spent much of my childhood on my grandfather’s farm, which later became my uncle’s farm and where my two cousins are now farming with him. Despite having adapted to the metropolitan Gauteng where I have lived since I finished high school, I still refer to myself as a plaasjapie (English: farm boy). Visiting my uncle and cousins on the farm still has a mesmerising effect on me. Everything just feels cleaner, fresher and more peaceful. I have always believed Tzaneen to be the most beautiful place in the country – not for the beauty of the town itself, but for the beauty of the farms.

  But in this beauty – in this peace – lies a stark paradox: Tzaneen is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a farmer. This, in a country that is already the most dangerous country in which to be a farmer. Having lived on a farm for three years, I know the feeling of alarms going off in the middle of the night, of branches cracking outside the window, or the sudden silence of crickets, leaving you to wonder if that moment has finally arrived for you …

  I have been involved with the civil and minority rights movement AfriForum since its founding in 2006, and have been a full-time employee since 2011. Since its inception the organisation has grown to be the largest civil rights organisation on the African continent and currently comprises more than 200 000 members. The promotion of community safety is one of our core goals. My job includes the coordinating of our campaigns for the prioritising of farm attacks in particular.

  Campaigning against farm attacks is more than just a job, however. It is personal.

  At the age of 32, the fingers on my two hands are not enough to count all the people I know who have either been attacked or murdered on South African farms and smallholdings, or whose loved ones have been murdered.

  Let me prove this to you …

  BATTLE AT BRONKHORSTSPRUIT

  When my friend Henk Greyling (pseudonym) arrived at the farmhouse at 22:30 in the evening, he immediately knew that something was wrong. The large gate was open. The floodlights were off and the dogs were barking. Leaving the scene was not an option, as he knew that his uncle was in the house with five children, two of whom were still babies. The oldest of the children was sixteen and the youngest was only five months old. Greyling’s aunt sat in the bakkie (English: pickup truck) next to him.

  He told his aunt to wait in the car, while he got out to inspect the small gate. Just as he reached the gate, he saw a shiny object swinging at him from the dark. Instinctively, he swung back with his fist, striking an attacker. Another attacker charged at him from behind, striking him hard on the back of his head with the back-end of a shotgun. Greyling fell to the ground. He was disoriented. He felt the man grabbing him from behind, swinging his left arm around his chest, holding him. He knew what would follow. The attacker’s right arm then swung in, clutching a blade. Greyling realised that the man was about to slit his throat, so he pressed down hard with his chin onto his neck, succeeding in twisting the blade.

  When the man made the cut, he missed Greyling’s throat, but sliced open the flesh under his lower jaw. Adrenaline kicked in. Instinct took over. Greyling is a fighter, so he acted on his instinct – he fought back. The two men had, however, already overpowered him. Suddenly he felt a piece of metal in his mouth. The realisation that the barrel of a loaded .45 Magnum was stuck into his mouth seemed to have paralysed him just enough for the attackers to tie his hands behind his back. The thought of the children in the house never left his mind. The attackers dragged both him and his aunt into the house.

  Once they were inside, they tied up his aunt next to his uncle, who was already tied up. There were eight or nine attackers in the house. Greyling managed to break loose. He rushed towards one of the attackers, attempting to punch him with his fist. However, he was shot in the right arm and fell to the floor. He immediately got up, so they shot him through the left shoulder. He dropped again. When he got up the third time, they fired two shots through his hips. In the heat of the moment, Greyling did not feel any pain, and so he assumed that they must have missed. His aunt pleaded for him to remain lying on the floor, which he then did. One of the attackers started kicking him, trampling him with safety boots, breaking his ribs and twisting his spine.

  When Greyling got up again, they struck him in the face with the back of a firearm, breaking out three of his teeth.

  They asked Greyling’s uncle for the keys to the safe, but he responded that h
e did not know where they were. So they took out a side cutter and made a big cut through his ear. Being a bleeder, Greyling’s uncle started bleeding excessively. They asked Henk for the keys to his uncle’s safe, but he also said that he did not have them. He noticed, however, that the safe had already been broken out of the wall.

  After torturing Greyling, the attackers left the scene with the safe on the back of their vehicle. Greyling had been lying on his uncle and was soaked in blood. Still not realising that he had been shot, he assumed that it was only his uncle’s blood.

  Greyling’s brother Stefan (pseudonym) arrived just after the attackers had left, so they jumped into the bakkie and chased after the attackers. They found the attackers with the vehicle next to the road, trying to open the safe. One of the attackers stood in the road. They started firing on each other. Greyling’s brother managed to run over him at full speed, crushing his body. His brother was shot through the collar bone and his lung was perforated. They rushed to the hospital.

  Other than the attacker whose crushed body was found the following day on a garbage dump at a nearby black township, everyone survived. The most distressing part of my friend’s story will be better understood within the context of the information that I will disclose in the chapters to follow. For that reason, I will revert to my friend’s story in the closing chapter of this book.

  LOVED ONES

  On 31 May 2016, my own brother Pieter Roets was attacked by three men on a smallholding near Muldersdrift in Gauteng.1 Roets had fallen asleep on the couch and woke up to find attackers climbing through the kitchen window. As one came walking into the living room, Roets charged towards him, only to see the man sticking a loaded revolver into his face. They tied him up, made him lie flat on the floor with his face facing downwards and they threw a blanket over his head. Thinking that they would shoot him in the head any second, he listened as they ransacked his place. Once Roets believed them to have left, he waited for a little while and then managed to cut the ropes with his pocket knife. The attackers were arrested soon thereafter. They were found guilty on 33 counts, including three murders and five attempted murders, and sentenced to 309 years’ imprisonment each.

  They had been charged for committing several farm attacks in the area. Up to 13 different incidents were reported. They had also been charged with several murders. My brother seemed to have been the only one of their victims who had suffered no physical harm.