Ernst Roets, Kill the Boer: Government complicity in South Africa's brutal farm murders, Kraal Uitgewers, 2018
Despite South Africa’s notorious crime rate, some crimes are deemed unique and hence, are prioritized. Recent examples of this phenomenon include violence against women and children, copper theft, rhino poaching and cash-in-transit heists. Priority crimes are accepted as the consequences of such crimes may be disastrous. Copper theft creates massive damage to the South African economy, and rhino poaching can make the rhino extinct. The South African government has taken steps to specifically combat both phenomenons.
Ernst Roets, deputy-CEO of Afriforum and author of “Kill The Boer”, attempts to make the argument that farm attacks and murders should be deemed priority crimes and that farm attacks should be deemed as unique as other priority crimes.
Roets is uniquely qualified to write about farm murders as Afriforum has spearheaded numerous campaigns to spread awareness about farm attacks. Moreover, he has managed to doggedly bring the debate about farm attacks into the social ether by appearing on endless public debates and mainstream television and radio shows to discuss the topic.
The book is divided into three sections: why farm murders are unique, the cultural and political landscape in which these farm attacks are occurring,and how to combat the scourge of farm attacks and proposed solutions.
The first section is littered with violent and distressing accounts from farm attacks victims and their families about the particular methods used against them while attacked. Being boiled alive, being drowned in a bathtub filled with boiling water, being stabbed 151 times with garden forks and machetes - these are just some of the torture methods used by assailants on farmers on South African farms. Within the context of the book, these scenes are not gratuitous as Roets crafts a compelling narrative that accentuates the main thrust of his argument - farm attacks are unique crimes that deserve priority.