{"id":100577,"date":"2025-08-21T09:52:43","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T09:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/?p=100577"},"modified":"2025-08-21T09:54:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T09:54:34","slug":"farm-attacks-afriforum-slams-government-for-again-choosing-denial-despite-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/farm-attacks-afriforum-slams-government-for-again-choosing-denial-despite-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"Farm Attacks: AfriForum slams government for again choosing denial despite facts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jacques-Broodryk_21-Aug-2025_ENG.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Soundbite: Jacques Broodryk (English)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jacques-Broodryk_21-Aug-2025_AFR.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Soundbite: Jacques Broodryk (Afrikaans)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>AfriForum considers the attempt by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to deny the existence of any racial and political motivation for farm attacks as further proof that the government chooses denial over accountability and facts. In response to a report by the US Department of State, DIRCO yesterday argued that allegations that farm attacks are racially motivated or driven by racial rhetoric are unfounded. AfriForum maintains that DIRCO is attempting to downplay the seriousness of farm attacks.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DIRCO\u2019s claim that farm attacks are simply part of general crime ignores decades of evidence that point to the contrary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum\u2019s Chief Spokesperson for Community Safety, the government is conveniently highlighting the last quarter\u2019s available statistics to claim that there is no \u201cpattern of action driven by inflammatory racial rhetoric against a specific community\u201d. \u201cThis statement deliberately avoids a historical reality, namely that farm attacks have plagued the country for decades and many attacks carry clear racial and political undertones,\u201d Broodryk explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AfriForum emphasises that several examples of this exist:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In 1999, Ntutoko Chuene, a convicted farm murderer, openly admitted that the \u201cKill the Boer\u201d chant influenced his crime.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 2018, the attackers who targeted a farm outside Porterville first painted the words \u201cDubul\u2019 ibhunu\u201d (\u201cKill the Boer\u201d) on the front door of Tobie van Schalkwyk and Desiree Taylor-Van Schalkwyk\u2019s farmhouse before assaulting the couple a few weeks later. Desiree was sexually assaulted, and Tobie was doused in petrol with the intention of setting him on fire.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 2023, farm attackers shouted \u201cKill the Boer, kill the farmer\u201d while assaulting Amanda Platt on a farm outside Pietermaritzburg.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Broodryk, these attacks are not random acts of opportunistic crime. \u201cThese are hate crimes, motivated by dangerous rhetoric that the government consistently refuses to condemn. There are many more examples where racist utterances have been made during farm attacks, yet the authorities continue to look away,\u201d Broodryk continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe government\u2019s refusal to acknowledge the true nature of these attacks and its silence when politicians or others incite violence against minorities through, among other things, the \u2018Kill the Boer\u2019 chant, is part of the problem. By denying what is plain to see, the government is not only failing victims; it is encouraging perpetrators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AfriForum reiterates that until farm attacks are recognised as priority crimes and addressed with the required urgency, rural communities will remain under siege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe country and its people deserve more than statistics manipulated to fit a narrative of denial \u2013 they need truth, concrete action and leadership that condemns all forms of hatred,\u201d Broodryk concludes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AfriForum considers the attempt by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to deny the existence of any 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