Afrikaners come together on #BlackMonday to protest ongoing farm murders

This latest senseless murder only serves as proof of the massive problem the country is facing, says Jan van Niekerk, leader of the FF Plus in the Free State.

Van Niekerk and many other FF Plus representatives took part in mass protest actions across the country that brought traffic to a standstill in many parts.

“It is the duty of political parties, civil rights organisations and every South African to build on the momentum and solidarity created by the Black Monday protest action.

“We have got to do more than wear black clothes and participate in protest marches. We need to demand real solutions to this problem of senseless violence against the vulnerable members of society. It is also our duty to protect ourselves and our loved ones against such attacks by making sure we are aptly prepared.”

As thousands of people marched across the country to highlight the scourge of farm attacks, murders and torture, another Afrikaner farmer was hacked to death and stuffed in his vehicle in Vryheid, in the KwaZulu Natal province.

Bokkie Potgieter, a vegetable farmer in northern KwaZulu-Natal, was found dead in his bakkie. His alleged black attacker was killed by loyal black farm workers from the neighbouring farm after the assaillant crashed the stolen bakkie, suggesting that the attackers, once again, were not disgruntled or ill-treated farm workers as the ANC regime has maintained.

Police spokesperson Nqobile Gwala confirmed to FWM that a 73-year-old Afrikaner was attacked with a bush knife and his body was dragged to his vehicle.

The protest #BlackMonday was organised after a video by Chris Loubser went viral. Loubser is a farm manager from Franschhoek whose friend was one of the 70 white farmers killed since January this year.

White farmers blocked the R59 highway in Vereeniging, Gauteng, causing a massive traffic disruption. Farmers presented their memorandum of grievances to Vereeniging’s Midvaal mayor Bongani Baloyi.

It read, in part: “Stop the killing of our farmers, stop all hate crimes done against white people, stop white genocide, help us white people to feel safe in South Africa and bring more police to our neighbourhoods and farms to patrol and be on the lookout for crime.”

The farmers’ memorandum also said: “If we don’t receive a reply from you in seven days, then we will be forced to come back again, only this time we will come back for six days.

“If we don’t get a reply that you did deliver this letter to Parliament in 14 days, then we will be forced to come back for 14 days! We need to be heard, and we will do whatever it takes for our voices to be heard.”

During yesterday’s countrywide Black Monday protest actions against farm murders, it came to light that yet another farmer was attacked as-yet-unconfirmed incident in Koster in the North West, said Pieter Groenewald, leader of the FF Plus.

Traffic near Stellenbosch halted

According to Groenewald, this underscores the fact that South Africans have reason to revolt against a government, which has failed its people miserably, by participating in protest actions like these.

He says that the FF Plus welcomes the protest action and considers it a barometer of what is actually going on in the hearts of South Africans.

Dr Groenewald says that the FF Plus is opposed to any form of violence or crime, but the emphasis placed on farm murders in this case is significant as agriculture is a strategic industry that supplies the people of South Africa with food.

“Yesterday, South Africans in general and the vulnerable agricultural community in particular, drew a line in the sand with the protest action to send a clear message to the government that the current state of affairs cannot continue indefinitely.

“The state and its law enforcement agents are not performing their Constitutional duty of keeping the country’s citizens safe and in so doing, they have breached their contract with South Africans,” he said.

Farmers block highway in Klapmuts

During the announcement of South Africa’s latest crime statistics last week, the statistics on farm attacks and murders were not made public by police authorities.

Groenewald had requested the statistics of the Minister of Police, Fikile Mbalula, and it was given to him on condition that it would not be disclosed, but Groenwald ignored the Minister’s condition.

According to statistics for the past year, there were 74 farm murders and 638 farm attacks. Farm murders increased by 27.5 percent and farm attacks by 22.9 percent, FWM can reveal.

According to the report, Brits, Hartbeespoort, and nearby Kameeldrift and Rustenburg in the north of the country, are the focal points for farm murders and attacks.

After the information was leaked, the police complained on Friday that the report was not supposed to be made public.

Details of how the farm attackers operate is also discussed in the document. The attacks and murders are carried out with firearms, knives and sharp objects and the victims’ legs and arms are tied up.

Most attackers are between 25 and 35 years old and the victims are usually older than 50.

“It is incomprehensible that the police did not want to disclose the report, creating the impression that they wanted to conceal the sharp increase in farm murders and attacks. The importance of farm murders is that agriculture – a strategic industry – provides food security. The overall murder rate in South Africa is now 34 per 100 000 of the population, but with regard to farmers it is about 130 per 100 000. Therefore the emphasis on farm murders.”

Three white demonstrators were injured when a truck ploughed into them on the N4 highway, outside the town of Middelburg in Mpumalanga. Two are in a serious condition. The black driver of the truck was arrested on the spot.