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STATISTICS POINT TO DRASTIC INCREASE IN FARM MURDERS

FARM ATTACKS AND FARM MURDERS

IN SOUTH AFRICA

A REPORT BY LORRAINE CLAASEN26 APRIL 2017

AFRIFORUM NAVORSINGS-INSTITUUT

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Report Farm attacks and farm murders in South Africa

The Parliament of South Africa held a debate on Tuesday 14 March this year during a National Assembly regarding farm attacks and farm murders. During the debate, various statistics regarding crime were quoted that emphasise the trustworthiness and validity of available numbers. Although the agricultural organisation TAU SA and AfriForum to date made numbers public according to calendar years, AfriForum

Information from individual cases are compiled through making use of various sources. South African media is relied upon for articles regarding individual cases, as well as social media, the reporting of cases by existing security networks as well as victims and families of victims that directly report

Calendar years

INTRODUCTION

DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING

STATISTICS

managed in May 2016 in a PAIA application to obtain the farm attack and farm murder numbers of the South African Police Service (SAPS). To present a more accurate exposition of the numbers, the AfriForum Research Institute processed and analysed the 2016/2017 numbers to consequently draw a comparison with the statistics of the SAPS.1

cases for record purposes. Incidents are verified and the facts thereof confirmed. However, there are incidents of farm attacks of which there is no knowledge. For this reason, the farm attack statistics are considered as conservative and are subject to change.

1. TAU SA has been the most reliable source of independently-sourced farm attack statistics since 1990. Since 2015, AfriForum and TAU SA worked together to correlate various databases and verify incidents.

The below graph shows the farm attack and farm murder numbers from some of the past calendar years.

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Farm attacks and farm murders in South Africa Report

The below table includes the SAPS statistics obtained through the PAIA application in 2016. Note that the numbers from 2007/2008 to 2009/2010 were not made public, due to the abolition of publishing of information. All information

During a meeting with AfriForum on 4 May 2016, the SAPS announced the numbers of the 2013/2014 to 2015/2016 financial years:

Financial yearsof the outstanding period has therefore been used for operational purposes and was not included in the annual report of the SAPS.

PERIOD NUMBER OF MURDERS NUMBER OF INCIDENTS (ATTACKS)

1996/1997 84 433

1997/1998 142 490

1998/1999 144 827

1999/2000 144 823

2000/2001 147 908

2001/2002 140 1 069

2002/2003 103 903

2003/2004 88 773

2004/2005 82 694

2005/2006 88 636

2006/2007 86 794

2010/2011 80 532

2011/2012 56 523

2012/2013 59 566

PERIOD NUMBER OF MURDERS NUMBER OF INCIDENTS (ATTACKS)

2013/2014 57 517

2014/2015 60 490

2015/2016 49 446

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Statistics of the 2016/2017 financial yearAs already discussed, the incidents from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 were processed to be able to make a clear comparison between the statistics published by the SAPS and that of ANI, even though the SAPS have not yet made the national crime figures of the past financial year public.

The SAPS did however confirm to Parliament during a presentation of crime statistics in March 20172 that, to date, there have been 307 farm attack incidents and 46 farm murders reported during the 2016/2017 period.

Although the statistics as is updated by AfriForum and TAU SA show a lower number for farm attack incidents than the financial year figures for 2015/2016 – made public by the SAPS for this period – there is however an increase in farm murders.

The total amount of verified farm attacks is 357 and the amount of farm murders for the 2016/2017 period is a disturbing 74.

2. Gqirana, Thulani. Crime stats: Slight decrease in farm murders, stock theft on the rise. 03/03/2017. News24.com

Farm murders for the 2016/2017 financial year are indicated on the calendar.

NovemberS m t w t f S

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30

AprilS m t w t f S

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

JulyS m t w t f S

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

AugustS m t w t f S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

SeptemberS m t w t f S

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

DecemberS m t w t f S

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

OctoberS m t w t f S

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

MayS m t w t f S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

JanuaryS m t w t f S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

JuneS m t w t f S

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

MarchS m t w t f S

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

FebruaryS m t w t f S

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28

2

2 2

2

2 2

F A R M M U R D E R S2016-2017

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Farm murders for the 2016/2017 financial year are indicated on the map.

Cape Town

Kimberley Bloemfontein

Mahikeng

Polokwane

Nelspruit

Durban

Port Elizabeth

Pretoria

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In five incidents during this period the victim(s) died from their injuries after the attack.

DATA ANALYSIS

PROVINCE TOTAL

Gauteng 21

KwaZulu-Natal 11

Limpopo 8

Mpumalanga 12

Northern Cape 1

Northwest 9

Eastern Cape 3

Free State 6

Western Cape 3

TOTAL 74

PROVINCE PERCENTAGE

Gauteng 22.8%

Free State 15.7%

Mpumalanga 14.8%

Northwest 14.8%

Limpopo 13.4%

KwaZulu-Natal 10.1%

Western Cape 4.8%

Eastern Cape 2.5%

Northern Cape 1.1%

TOTAL 74

PROVINCE FARM SMALLHOLDING TOTAL

Gauteng 4 17 21

KwaZulu-Natal 11 0 11

Limpopo 5 3 8

Mpumalanga 10 2 12

Northern Cape 0 1 1

Northwest 4 5 9

Eastern Cape 3 0 3

Free State 5 1 6

Western Cape 1 2 3

TOTAL 43 31 74

PROVINCE FARM SMALLHOLDING TOTAL

Gauteng 6.7% 16% 22.7%

KwaZulu-Natal 9.8% 0.3% 10.1%

Limpopo 10.1% 3.4% 13.5%

Mpumalanga 12.3% 2.5% 14.8%

Northern Cape 0.6% 0.6% 1.2%

Northwest 11.2% 3.6% 14.8%

Eastern Cape 2.2% 0.3% 2.5%

Free State 13.7% 2% 15.7%

Western Cape 4.5% 0.3% 4.8%

TOTAL 71.1% 28.9% 100%

Farm murders per province:

The provinces with the most farm attacks are as follows:

Murders on farms and smallholdings per province:

Attacks that took place on smallholdings and farms per province:

It is clear from the last table that most of the incidents occur on farms, except in Gauteng. The reason for this could be

the high number of plots and smallholdings situated around the cities in this province.

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Victims Attackers

Attacks

Torture

Monday 12.5%

Tuesday 12.5%

Wednesday 11.9%

Thursday 14.5%

Friday 15.1%

Saturday 17.6%

Sunday 15.9%

Midnight – 6:00

6:01 – 12:00 12:01 – 18:0018:01 –

Midnight

36% 16% 14% 34%

Time of the day:

In the 357 incidents, there were more than 553 victims involved. The average number of victims per attack is four. The average age of victims is 55 years. In 62% of the incidents, victims of the age of 51 and older were attacked.

More than 740 attackers were involved in the 357 incidents, with an average of four attackers per incident. On average from the data, it seems that more attackers struck on farms than on smallholdings. In 20 cases it was reported that an attacker was wounded during the incident.

It is not known in how many cases attackers were known to the victims, due to the increasing use of balaclavas that disguise the identities of the attackers.

• During 69 (19%) of the incidents it was reported that weapons and ammunition was stolen from the victim.

• In 84 (24%) of the incidents the vehicle of the victim was stolen and used as a get-away vehicle.

• During 112 (31%) of the incidents victims were fired at, or there was an active attempt to murder the victim(s).

• In six of the cases it was made public that a woman was raped during the attack. This number can however be higher because the information could be withheld from the public due to the sensitivity of this sort of crime.

• In four cases the victim was abducted during the attack and set free or murdered elsewhere.

• In three cases fires were intentionally started at the main house or elsewhere on the farm in order to lure victims from their home, after which the attackers struck.

Torture took place in 13 incidents. This number can also be higher as mentioned in the case of rape. Incidents where information was made public, was widely reported in the media. On 10 March 2017, Mrs Niccy Simpson (64) from Kalbasfontein in Gauteng was assaulted during a six-hour long attack, burnt with an iron and a bag was pulled over her head in an attempt to try to smother her. Thereafter her feet were impaled with an electrical drill and the attackers threatened to cut off her legs with a grinding machine. In May 2016, a 68-year-old man was also cruelly tortured with a towel that was pushed down his throat and a piece of wire was wrapped around the victim’s neck to strangle him. He died during the attack. In June 2016, a couple from Gauteng was burnt with irons during an attack.

Robert Lynn (66) and Sue Howarth (64), both British citizens, were attacked on their farm in Dullstroom, Mpumalanga on

In 61 of the incidents recorded, workers of the property formed part of the victims.

Most of the attacks occurred on Saturdays, followed by Sundays, Fridays and Thursdays.

The time of the day during which the most attacks took place, was at night from 18:00 to 6:00.

0–20 21–50 51–70 71–100

13% 25% 40% 22%

Age of farm attack victims:

Day of the week:

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Sunday, 19 February 2017 around 2 a.m. Robert had various knife wounds on his back and legs and he was burnt on his feet, legs and stomach with a blow torch. The attackers left Robert in a field and Sue was found next to the road where she was still alive, with a plastic bag bound over her head. She died from her injuries in the hospital.

2017 to dateIf the frequency of farm attacks and farm murders remain the same throughout the calendar year, it would seem that the numbers would again increase. To date there have been 113 attacks and 29 farm murders verified.

In conclusionOn 31 May 2016, an attacker asked a victim: “Do you want to die?”She survived the attack.

The daughter of a couple that were assaulted in November 2016, said the following:

“This is a wake-up call. You must increase your security more and more. You don’t think it can happen to you.”

It is of utmost importance that all people in rural areas increase their security. Communities are encouraged to become involved with security networks in their area. It is essential to make it as difficult as possible for attackers to gain access to dwellings.

Victims and/or family of victims of farm attacks are encouraged to report incidents at [email protected] or [email protected].


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