MOKOPANE, South Africa — On a desolate hillside at the edge of a farm, nearly 3,000 white crosses stand as solemn markers, each representing a victim of a horrific incident. These crosses form the Witkruis Monument, a memorial that underscores the lives of white individuals killed on farms in the past thirty years. However, it does not narrate the complete picture of farm killings in South Africa.
The Witkruis Monument caters solely to the white Afrikaner minority and serves as a powerful image for some in South Africa to propagate a debunked narrative. This misguided story suggests that white farmers in a predominantly Black nation face systematic racial persecution. This notion, although unsupported by data, has been echoed by conservative commentators internationally, including by notable figures such as Elon Musk and former U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump further escalated the discourse by labeling the violence as “genocide.”
South African authorities and research experts have strongly refuted these false claims. Even the custodian of the Witkruis acknowledges the monument’s exclusion of the many Black farmers and farmworkers who have also been victims of violence. Crimes against farmers and farmworkers of all races are rare compared to the nation’s overall crime rates and mostly occur during robberies, according to statistics and studies conducted over the past quarter century.
Despite their minority status, with whites owning 72% of privately held farms as per census data, they are more frequently affected by such crimes. Black farm ownership is at 4%, with the remainder owned by people of mixed race or Indian heritage. Gareth Newman, a crime expert at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, notes that the spread of misinformation is often perpetuated by right-wing groups both within and outside of South Africa.
These fringe groups have existed since boycotting the historic 1994 democratic elections, which ended the apartheid regime. They have clung to these false beliefs to maintain group cohesion and secure international support.
The Witkruis Monument commenced in 2004 but commemorates deaths dating back to post-apartheid in 1994. Kobus de Lange, a local Afrikaner farmer, manages the site and permits its visitation. Despite expressing the community’s frustrations over perceived governmental neglect, de Lange admits the monument does not encompass the broader context of farm killings.
He acknowledges that Black farmers and farmworkers have suffered similarly and emphasizes that their families have yet to ask for representation in the form of crosses. The site also features insignia of conservative Afrikaner movements, which are controversial due to their connections to apartheid.
From April 2023 through March 2024, AfriForum, an Afrikaner advocacy group, recorded 49 farm killings, a mere fraction of the total murders in the country. Their data omits Black victims, and official crime figures do not categorize by race.
With a Black majority making up over 80% of South Africa’s population, Black individuals predominantly fall victim to violent crimes. However, there is minimal advocacy highlighting the plight of Black farmers. Public attention and protests predominantly address the alarming rates of violence against women and children in urban settings.
To counter misleading narratives, South African police made an unusual move last month by disclosing the racial breakdown of farm killings. During the year’s first quarter, six farm-related murders were recorded – one white victim, and the rest Black.
Living on a farm in the Normandien area of KwaZulu-Natal province, MmaNtuli Buthelezi argues against Trump’s assertion of targeted violence against whites, emphasizing that Black farmworkers often lack basic protection.
The contentious dialogue reached a peak when Trump incorrectly identified a South African community initiative to plant white crosses in 2020 as a “burial site” for white farmers. He has also accused the South African government, without evidence, of exacerbating these claimed racial tensions and halted U.S. aid to the country.
In the rhetoric surrounding these issues, some point to a chant by a Black political party as evidence of racially motivated violence, but this is not the root cause. Long before the chant’s revival, investigations into farm violence attributed the primary motive to robbery. Findings by government and human rights organizations recognized the targeted vulnerability of farmers due to the valuable assets they possess.
In certain instances, attackers are disgruntled former employees or criminals seeking retribution over financial disputes. Historical records from the National Prosecuting Authority note these tendencies.
Ultimately, the complex issues surrounding farm killings in South Africa resist simplification into easy narratives and require a nuanced understanding of the socio-economic factors at play.