US State Department's report on farm attacks is 'fake news'

THE Presidency has dismissed as disinformation the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor’s (DRL) report that attacks on farms were not ordinary crimes.

The findings lack credibility, says presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya who also accused Donald Trump’s administration of ignoring reliable information in order to sustain a disinformation campaign against South Africa.

The bureau had undertaken a visit to South Africa as part of the President of the United States, Donald Trump's executive orders to learn more about the rural farm attacks and the breakdown of the rule of law.

The bureau said local ‘sources’ reported 296 farm attacks and 49 murders in 2023, adding that victims were disproportionately elderly, isolated and faced delayed police response.

It said the SAPS also reported that the number increased to 44 murders in 2024.

“These are not ordinary crimes. In some documented cases, reports detail victims tortured or killed without anything being stolen,” DRL said.

“Earlier this year, a man was beaten and hacked with a machete. In another incident, an elderly woman was assaulted and repeatedly stabbed. In both cases, no theft occurred. These attacks are not motivated by poverty alone.”

The DRL added that in one of the notable incidents in 2023, assailants chanted “kill the boer, kill the farmer” as they stabbed their victim, adding that these were not fringe slogans as some South African leaders chant the same words to cheering crowds.

“In one case, graffiti praising these leaders was painted on a farmhouse before its owners were brutally attacked. Despite this, as the President of the United States highlighted earlier this year, many South African leaders have failed to condemn this song,” the bureau said, adding that the international community and mainstream media decided to remain silent on this issue.

Magwenya said there is no credibility that can be attached to the report.

He said the bureau visited Cape Town only, and also ignored credible SAPS statistics in order to sustain a disinformation campaign against South Africa.

“There is nothing constructive or new out of their report. We are fully aware of all challenges relating to crime in our country, including crimes that are committed in rural and farming areas. We are also working on addressing all crimes that affect our citizens,” said Mangwenya.

AfriForum welcomed the findings, with its Community Safety spokesperson Jacques Broodryk, saying: “We are grateful that the United States has confirmed what we have been emphasising for years, namely that farm attacks are not ordinary crimes. “Farm attacks are brutal, targeted attacks that are often accompanied by torture, murder without anything being stolen and politically charged rhetoric such as ‘Kill the Boer’.”

However, violence monitor Mary de Haas said the report was not objective, adding that crime affects everyone in South Africa.

She said if there was objectivity in the report, the bureau would look at what is happening in rural black communities, where the murder rate is far higher.

“This is a very biased racist agenda to focus on white farmers when most of the victims of brutal crime and torture are black people in South Africa .They are trying to punish South Africa because of the world court case. (The case filed in 2024 against Israel at the International Court of Justice). The genocide is in Gaza, not in South Africa,’’ she said.

Political analyst Sandile Swana said the US decided to focus on the interests of the white minority while the issue should be resolving the economic struggles of black people. He said the DRL’s visit aims to turn South Africa into a colonial State of the US, adding that the report is biased, unscientific and prejudiced to favour Trump and his Make America Great Again campaign.

“This must be seen as a racist measure by the US. The former South African Ambassador to the US Ibrahim Rasool was expelled for correctly identifying the white supremacy tendencies of Trump’s presidency,” Swana said.

Cape Times