AfriForum calls for commission of inquiry into the causes of farm attacks
28 June 2018
The civil rights organisation today asked that an independent commission of inquiry be compiled to determine what the factors are that lead to farm murders. This announcement was made in Centurion during the media launch of the book Kill the Boer by Ernst Roets, Deputy CEO of AfriForum.
During the launch Roets played a recording in which a member of the 28 prison gang alleges that Julius Malema, EFF leader, went to see them in jail to talk about farm murders. Roets also told of his own experience when a convicted farm murderer told him that he was a member of the ANC’s military wing, uMkhonto we Sizwe, and that the ANC gave him an order to murder a farmer. Roets says that these allegations must be viewed in a serious light and that it must be thoroughly investigated. The recording in which the allegations are made about Malema was already broadcasted on the actuality programme Carte Blanche in March 2017. At the time the EFF said that Malema did not have time to comment thereon. The issue was also not investigated further.
In the book Kill the Boer it is argued that the South African government is complicit in the crisis of farm murders. Ten reasons are supplied for this allegation. Various incidents of political incitement to farm murders, as well as farm murders where political or racial motives clearly played a role, is stated in the book.
Roets explains that AfriForum does not claim that all farm murders are politically motivated, but that the organisation is in fact gravely concerned that the political element is currently underplayed. “Our analysis of five incidents of hate speech from high political leaders against farmers indicated that farm murders in the months following on these incidents increased with an average of 74,8%.”