Tawanda Musarurwa
CHECKPOINT DESK
CLAIMS of genocide of white farmers in South Africa have been bubbling under the surface for decades, largely propagated by the far-right white farmers themselves.
In recent years, they have gained support – for whatever reason – from a prominent voice.
During the second year of his first term as President of the United States, Donald Trump tweeted about the “large-scale killing of farmers” in the African country. However, last week the unwarranted claims took a new twist when President Trump expressed those claims in the White House during a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. But is the US President being manipulated to push some unknown agenda?
Numbers around the claims of a ‘genocide’ in South Africa may indicate so.
First things first, what is genocide?
Encyclopaedia Britannica defines genocide as “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race.”
According to South African Police Service (SAPS) statistics for the first three months of this year (January to March), six people were killed on farms during that period.
Of those six, five were black and one was white. While all the farm murders are regrettable, they do not indicate a “white farmer genocide”; rather, they are part of a broader crime problem that South Africa faces.
For instance, during this three-month period, according to the SAPS crime report, 5 727 people were murdered across the country (an average of 62 per day), 6 985 attempted murders were recorded (75 per day), 43 776 assaults with intent to cause grievous bodily harm were reported (475 per day), 10 688 people were raped (116 per day), 4 571 kidnappings occurred (49 per day), 11 111 common robberies, and 35 374 commercial crimes were reported (504 per day combined), and 5 671 incidents of stock theft were recorded (61 per day).
Going beyond the latest SAPS crime report for the first quarter of this year, we also examined SAPS’ quarterly crime reports (April to June 2023 and 2024) to get proper context.
According to SAPS’ quarterly crime statistics, 103 murders took place on agricultural land (including farms, plots, and smallholdings) between April and June 2024.
That number includes all victims – white, black, coloured, Indian, and others.
There is no race-based disaggregation in the official data because, as SAPS and experts like Africa Check repeatedly emphasise, crime in South Africa is classified by type and location, not by the skin colour of the victim.
These numbers represent just 1,7 percent of the total 6 198 murders in the country during that quarter. Contrast this with public places – like streets, parks, or open fields – where 3 140 people were killed, or residences, where 1 567 murders occurred.
Farms, in other words, are statistically among the least dangerous places to be killed in South Africa. Considering that genocide is very specific and targeted, the causative factors for murders in South Africa do not suggest a genocide.
The SAPS report for April to June 2023 shows that the main causes for murders during that period were arguments/misunderstandings (793), robbery (301), gang-related (193), vigilantism/mob justice (456), rape-related (24), and hijacking-related (51).
In 2024 (April to June), the main causes were arguments/misunderstandings (897), robbery (382), gang-related (270), vigilantism/mob justice (331), rape-related (10), and hijacking-related (50).
The statistics above show that murders are overwhelmingly caused by arguments, robberies, and gang activities – none of which align with systematic racial targeting.
The SAPS 2023 and 2024 quarterly reports (April to June) also show that farms remain among the least common places for murders compared to public areas and homes.
In 2023, most murders were committed in public areas (3 072), residences (1 685), farms/smallholdings (79), and liquor outlets (243).
The trend was also similar in 2024: public areas (3 140), residences (1 567), farms/smallholdings (103), and liquor outlets (224).
Genocide implies state-orchestrated or systemic, targeted extermination of a group based on identity.
The numbers highlighted above show no credible evidence that genocide against white farmers is taking place in South Africa.
US President Donald Trump’s efforts are better directed at the killings taking place in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier in March, Gaza’s Ministry of Health announced that at least 50 021 Palestinians had been killed and 113,274 wounded since Israel began attacking the territory on 7 October 2023.
The Gaza Strip has a total area of 365 km².
In January this year, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics claimed that the population of the Gaza Strip has declined by 160 000 since the attacks began, with over 100 000 people leaving.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE HERALD – https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/white-farmers-farm-murders-and-false-narratives/