Farm murders in South Africa – 2017 South African farmers constitute statistically the most vulnerable population group in the world. They are three times more likely to be killed than a policeman in a country that has one of the highest murder rates in the world. The reasons behind this are myriad. Isolation, government’s loss of control over immigration, a lack of police protection, the disbanding of traditional defense units, the rise of anti-white hate speech since the death of Mandela, political apathy from government, post Apartheid land restitution and it’s manipulation by politicians. President Zuma recently called for land appropriation without compensation, echoing the cries of black right wing group the Economic Freedom Fighters. He is using this issue to try to remain in power in the face of massive corruption charges. The E.F.F is using this issue as a way to try to come to power. More than 4000 farmers have been murdered since 1994, according to Afriforum and the Transvaal Agricultural Union. In the first two months of 2017 alone there have been over 90 attacks on farms, with 30 murders. The police are prohibited from keeping records on farm attacks, ordered instead to call them house robberies or business robberies. The idea is that this kind of statistic is politically charged and bad for investment. In 1994 there were over 105 000 commercial farms across the country. Most of these were white owned. Now there are less than 30 000, most of these are run by farmers who are of pensionable age. Inflation is beyond a living wage, unemployment is 35% and rising and of the 35, 000 estimated black farmers, most are small scale. Those black farmers speak of a lack of skills training as well as a lack of funding from Government. This same government does little to protect the farmers who feed the nation. The poorest class in the nation will no longer be able to afford rising food prices. Violence will be inevitable. Land restitution is now in it

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MARBLE HALL, SOUTH AFRICA, 18 NOVEMBER 2016: Diederich Beyers and his wife Dolla and one of their three childen are seen in one of their fields on their farm in Marble Hall, South Africa. Beyers is seen one week after his farm home was invaded by 6 men who tied him and his wife up and ransacked their home. The attackers told him they were going to kill him and they threatened to rape his wife. As the attackers were preparing to leave, they told him once they had loaded the cars they were coming back to kill him and his family. Temporarily alone and without a gun to his head, Beyers managed to escape the cable ties binding his arms and grab a hidden shot gun and kill one attacker and wound two others. His wife was still cutting the cable ties binding his legs as he took his first shot. He says the incident was terrifying and credits God with saving their lives. He says the thought of his sleeping children and his wife gave him strength to survive this incident. Beyer's feels bad about killing the one man and says he does not bear the black man any ill-will. One of the wounded was caught by the police and he confessed that this group had commited 5 other murders and was also involved in illegal rhino poaching. Beyers says that he knows that farmers have no choice but to take their protection into their own hands. He say he knows he cannot rely on the government or the police but he remains positive about South Africa and is willing to work with everyone towards a future. The official government figures say that close to 4000 white farmers have been killed since 1994 in South Africa. Agricultural and farmer organizations say that number is much higher and believe that the attacks on farmers are not only about criminal opportunism but that there is also a political motive. The number of farmers in South Africa has dwindled steadily from around 105 000 in 1994 to around 35 000 today. Farmers in these isolated areas have received very little support from the police and ha

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NABOOMSPRUIT, SOUTH AFRICA, 13 FEBRUARY 2017: RACHEL MATHABATHA, 62, is a female farmer in the Naboomspruit area of South Africa. She began farming in 1998 and in 2009 was able to buy 428 ha of land via a loan through the land restitution program LRAD. Rachel applied 8 times before she received a parcel of land. She lives alone with a small labor force and has successfully bred over 200 head of cattle and many goats on her farm. Rachel was attacked on her farm by three armed men who broke into her house and arrived in her bedroom at midnight in June 2015. They demanded money and tied her up with wire. They also assaulted and tied her laborers and then went through the house taking all her valuables. They demanded she lie on the floor and placed a blanket over her, ordering Rachel to “sleep.” “We want the guns, the attackers demanded, forcing her to open her safe and taking her weapons. One of the attackers pressed a knife into her, threatening to stab her. He asked the others for permission to stab her repeatedly, the 2 other men stopped him from doing so. The robbers took her bank card and withdrew cash. One of Rachel’s workers, a Zimbabwean, left a week later, after taking a loan from her. He is thought to be complicit as the attackers knew the layout of the house and the location of the safe. Her attackers were later caught, after robbing a number of farms in the district. Rachel has applied for a new firearm license but this is taking a long time and she fears she cannot protect herself on the farm. The majority of farm attacks are on whites, based on farmland ownership and a perception of wealth. Rachel has a good relationship with the white farmers around her property. “We don’t care about white/black around here, we just want to farm. My neighbor Piet Bester gave me an Nguni Bull to breed cattle with, he is a vet and if I have problems he is always helping me. My other neighbor is Professor Prinsloo, he buys my cattle and gives me advice if there

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JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, 2 FEBRUARY 2014: The inaugural rally of the Economic Freedom Front, the EFF is a newly formed black right wing party led by disgraced former ANC Youth League President Julius Malema. Malema was forced out of the ANC after attacking President Jacob Zuma repeatedly and faces over 500 criminal charges. He formed the EFF after he was thrown out of the ANC and advocates the policies of Hugo Chavez, Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro. He wants to nationalize the banks, mines and all major industries, he also wants to disposses white farmers of their land, claiming the whites stole it from former black owners. Historians and academics dispute his claims and he neglects the fact that South Africa has already been through multiple land dispute court claims. Malema regularly uses hate speech against whites and although this is constitutionally illegal he is not prosecuted by governement. He is most famous for revitalisizing and singing "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer," a former protest song from the apartheid period. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Vebatim for Le Figaro.)

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SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA, 10 DECEMBER 2013: Nelson Mandela supporters gather at FNB stadium for a day of comemoration for Nelson Mandela, the iconic Freedom Fighter of the ANC, Soweto, South Africa, 10 December 2013. Mr Mandela died on the 5th of December 2013. Since Mandela's death however, anti-white speech has become far more vocal in its intensity, especially from Black right wing party, the Economic Freedom Front led by Julius Malema. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Reportage by Getty Images.)

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MODIMOLLE, SOUTH AFRICA, 16 FEBRUARY 2017: Black ANC and EFF supporters protest out the court in Modimolle. Stephan Hepburn, a young white farmer is accused of murdering a black farm worker by the name of Jan Railo. Hepburn claims he was out hunting bushpigs in the night on his farm. Local hunters explain that Bushpigs are hunted at full moon without the aid of artifical light. The pigs tend to hide in the shadows which is where hunters look for movement. Allegedly, Jan Railo was lying low to the ground at the time, attempting to hide from view. Hepburn said he saw movement in the shadows which he took to be a bushpig and fired. The victim is alleged to have been stealing corn at the time from the maize fields on the farm. He was not on the property legally and it is alleged that 2 bags of maize cobs were found with the victim, stolen from the farmers fields. The incident comes at a time when tensions are high in the area between white farmers and black right wing party the Economic Freedom Front. Modimolle has a number of EFF council members for local government and it is alleged that the charge against Hepburn was pushed from culpable homicide to murder by one of these EFF councillors. The case was postponed in court until Monday while Hepburn's lawyer organizes his bail application. The EFF is attempting to influence a no bail situation. More than 4000 white farmers have been killed in South Africa since 1994 in farm attacks that have seen commercial white farms reduced from 105 000 to under 30000. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Getty Images.)

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ORANIA, NORTH WEST CAPE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA: Niklas Kirsten, an Orania resident and former South African Army Paratrooper, teaches Erik Du Pree hand-gun self-defence in the fields outside Orania, South Africa. Orania is a privately owned South African town located along the Orange River in the Northern Cape Province. Orania is a former government workers village originally bought by a group of Afrikaners in 1991 from the South African government with the intention of creating a pure Afrikaner community which functions as a stronghold for conservative Afrikaner cultural and religious values. Orainia currently has four times more applicants than they can handle, one of the drivers for this is the farm attacks phenomenon which currently see White South African farmers as the most vulnerable population group in the world. Increasing anti-white hate speech from the black right wing is only driving this further. The Orania community sees themselves as independant from the rest of South Africa with a goal of a self-determining Afrikaner homeland. All work in Orania is done by white Afrikaners. They do not see themselves as right wing, but are very concerned with their ultra conservative cultural and religious integrity and independence. They welcome anyone who shares those values and as a result are one hundred percent white in ethnicity. THere has been a steady rise in population numbers for Orania, due to ongoing disenfranchisement of white South Africans as a result of Black Empowerment policies of the ANC government as well as undiminished, traumatically high crime statistics which are driving whites to seek shelter in perceived safer communities such as Orania. There has also been a solid increase in the numbers of professional people moving to Orania in the face of the afore mentioned drivers. Up until now there have been good relations between Orania and the SA government and in June 1998 the then Minister of Constitutional Development in the ANC governement sta

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SWARTRUGGENS, SOUTH AFRICA: A group of Bushmen security personel learn self defense tactics to combat farm attacks on a farm in Swartruggens. They are taught by Dap Maritz, a long time security consultant on farm security and rhino protection. The E.F.F, a right wing black political party, is calling for a "Give back the land" campaign whereby White farmers must surrender their land. The EFF alleges this land was taken illegally from black ancestors. Historians and academics point out however that the only Bantu people in South Africa at the time of the Dutch settlers arriving in the Cape in 1652 were the Bushmen and the Hottentots. The Bushmen today are the most marginalized racial group in South Africa but historically speaking, may in fact be historically only true South Africans.

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SWARTRUGGENS, SOUTH AFRICA: A group of bushmen men learn self defence tactics to combat farm attacks on a farm in Swartruggens. They are taught by Dap Maritz, a long time security consultant on farm security and rhino protection. The EFF, a right wing black political party, is calling for a "Give back the land" campaign whereby White farmers must surrender their land. The EFF alleges this land was taken illegally from black ancestors. Historians and academics point out however that the only black people in South Africa at the time of the Dutch settlers arriving in the Cape in 1652 were the Bushmen and the Hottentots. The bushmen today are the most marginalized racial group in South Africa but may in fact be the only true South Africans. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Le Figaro.)

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A bushmen and his son take a break while walking through a farm that used to be part of their traditional hunting ground. The Bushmen are regarded by historians as the first people of South Africa yet they are the most marginalized people in the country. There is a land claim for them in the Kalahari region of the country but De Beers mining company is disputing part of the claim and the South African government is offering the land without mineral rights. The case is ongoing in the courts.

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SUNDRA, SOUTH AFRICA, 23 NOVEMBER 2016: Sundra's community protection group leaders meet to discuss the nights tactics. Sundra has one of the best CPG's in the country with over 200 members who patrol nightly. Rural farming towns and farmers are especially vulnerable to farm attack and these groups are their only real means of protection. Official government statistics state that 3398 farmers have been killed in farm attacks since 1994. Farmers and agricultural organization say that number is far higher. The ANC government instructed the police to stop keeping these records as they say it was bad for investment. Right wing groups all say that officially police in South Africa have a 33/100000 chance of being killed every year. Farmers in South Africa have a 158/100000 chance making them the most vulnerable population group in the world. Since 1994 there have been 328 244 murders in South Africa, with over 80 000 whites killed. Farmers in particular have little recourse to the law and must largely protect themselves. They formed Kommando groups to do this but the ANC government banned these. Since then, farmers remain reliant on themselves and small community protection groups. On average, there is a farm attack in South Africa every second day. The vast majority of these attacks involve significant numbers of attackers and violence, torture and rape are common. These attacks have polarized South Africa further and hate speech by black right wing movements has accelerated this. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Le Figaro.)

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SUNDRA, SOUTH AFRICA, 23 NOVEMBER 2016: The funeral for Kathleen Van Coppenhagen, shot dead by black attackers on her small holding in the farming town of Sundra. Kathleen was found hiding inside the dog kennel after being shot, her husband managed to escape his attackers after they shot his wife and beat him badly. Kathleen was taken to hospital but died a day later. Another white women was stabbed to death in Sundra 2 nights later. According to government, 3398 farmers have been killed in farm attacks since 1994. Farmers and agricultural organization say that number is far higher. The ANC government instructed the police to stop keeping these records as they say it was bad for investment. Right wing groups all say that officially police in South Africa have a 33/100000 chance of being killed every year. Farmers in South Africa have a 158/100000 chance making them the most vulnerable population group in the world. Since 1994 there have been 328 244 murders in South Africa, with over 80 000 whites killed. Farmers in particular have little recourse to the law and must largely protect themselves. They formed Kommando groups to do this but the ANC government banned these. Since then, farmers remain reliant on themselves and small community protection groups. On average, there is a farm attack in South Africa every second day. The vast majority of these attacks involve significant numbers of attackers and violence, torture and rape are common. These attacks have polarized South Africa further and hate speech by black right wing movements has accelerated this. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Le Figaro.)

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NABOOMSPRUIT, SOUTH AFRICA, FEBRUARY 2017: Dean Botha, 14, is the only son in a family that has been attacked on their farm 4 times in the course of his young life. Deon has seen his grandparents badly beaten in the first attack, they were bludgeoned to death in the second attack, his mother raped by a farm worker in the third attack and in the most recent he was forced to flee into the bush at night when 5 men trapped his mother inside and he fled barefoot to seek help on a neighbouring farm 8 miles away. “I heard gunshots in the house and then men came out and took the truck, I thought they were looking for me so I went deeper into the bush to avoid being seen. I wanted to get to a neighbor, I did not know what those men had done to my mom. “ Deon is very angry as a result of these attacks and is seeing a psychologist to help him cope with his feelings. It took him a long time to leave the house after the most recent attack and he is obsessive about protection. He goes to boarding school now but calls his mother every night to check on her safety. His parents are stoic, saying they will remain on the farm despite these attacks: “This is our land, this is what we do, where should we go from here? We are surviving, we must go on, this is all that we know.” Gerda Botha regrets that her son has been exposed to this. “I wish I had been attacked while I was alone, my son should not have to cope with this. “ (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim by Getty Images.)

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ELLIS RAS, SOUTH AFRICA, 28 NOVEMBER 2016: Kotie Lamprecht, 77, is seen in the bedroom where her and her husband were attacked by 3 Zimbabwean men on the 30 October 2016. She was badly beaten in the attack, strangled and tied up for 24 hours, her husband Poem Lamprecht was beaten so badly he died of his wounds while she was tied up. Conservative experts state that just under 4000 farmers have been killed in South Africa since 1994, with over 20,000 farm people attacked. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Le Figaro.)

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DULLSTROOM, SOUTH AFRICA, 27 FEBRUARY 2017: Robert Lynn, a farm attack victim who lost his wife Sue to a brutal attack last week. The couple were overpowered in their house on the Marchlands farm in Dullstroom, South Africa on Sunday morning. Lynn’s wife, Susan Howarth, passed away in hospital on Tuesday, and Lynn was discharged on Wednesday. He said: “I woke up because the dogs were barking, and there was a racket at the bedroom window. After I sat up in bed, I heard the bedroom glass breaking. I suppose that is when they started shooting at us. I saw three flashes and I assumed they missed. I realized later that Sue was hit immediately in the initial attack” Men wearing balaclavas then pounded on Lynn, hitting him over the head with a gun. He was ordered to lie down. “They kept on asking where the money is. I told them that we don’t keep money, but they would not believe me.” Lynn gave them a couple of hundred rand he had in a money clip and his bank cards, telling his attackers that they would be able to withdraw R1 000 a day from it. Lynn was taken to the living room. Shortly after, attackers started burning him with a blowtorch on his chest and legs. His hands were tied with baling twine and the robbers then started cutting him with a knife in order to get him to confess to keeping more money or a gun safe somewhere. “They were looking for things we just don’t have. I said to them that whoever gave them their information, gave them the wrong information. One of them replied with, ‘No they didn’t.’” Lynn kept on calling to his wife in the bedroom, who he last saw lying in a sleeping position. She did not answer. “The small dark one, who seemed to be the leader, smacked me over the head with his gun and told me to shut up.” Lynn was put in the back of their Nissan Hardbody doublecab. His attackers pulled a black bag over his head. “I suppose they wanted to suffocate me, but I managed to bite a tiny hole through the bag through which

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ELLIS RAS, SOUTH AFRICA, 28 NOVEMBER 2016: Suspected farm attacker Witness Mandipa is interogated by South African Police detetives and Investigative NGO Heritage Protection group's Sakkie Louwrens. Lourens until recently was a Colonel in the SAP Serious Crimes investiagative unit. Fingerprint evidence linked Witness to burglary on farms and he was arrested the day before in an attempted burglary in which his two accomplices got away. Police and HPG believe that he knows the whereabouts of dangerous Zimbabwean Farm attackers he has worked with before. Witness has been deported before for criminal activity and again illegally in South Africa. Experts state that the majority of farm attacks these days are carried out by Zimbabweans. Conservative experts state that just under 4000 farmers have been killed in South Africa since 1994, with over 20,000 farm people attacked. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Le Figaro.)

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LYDENBERG, SOUTH AFRICA, 22 FEBRUARY 2017: South African Police and members of Heritage Protection Group, an NGO specializing in serious crime investigation, arrest farm attackers in Lydenberg, South Africa. These attackers invaded the farm home of an elderly man living alone. They beat him badly, tied him to a chair and tortured him all the while demanding money. These suspects were caught through the sister of one of the men using stolen property from the attack. They confessed and the victim’s wallet, bankcards, rifle and building tools were recovered in the course of the arrest. These men will now face up to 20 years for the attack if convicted. Heritage Protection Group is made of ex-policemen with very good investigative records. They were founded to help to make up for a lack of investigative experience in the post-apartheid South African Police force. There is currently at least one farm attack a day in South Africa; violence is common as is murder. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Getty Images.)

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LYDENBERG, SOUTH AFRICA, 22 FEBRUARY 2017: South African Police and members of Heritage Protection Group, an NGO specializing in serious crime investigation, recover stolen property from farm attackers in Lydenberg, South Africa. These attackers invaded the farm home of an elderly man living alone. They beat him badly, tied him to a chair and tortured him all the while demanding money. These suspects were caught through the sister of one of the men using stolen property from the attack. They confessed and the victim’s wallet, bankcards, rifle and building tools were recovered in the course of the arrest. These men will now face up to 20 years for the attack if convicted. Heritage Protection Group is made of ex-policemen with very good investigative records. They were founded to help to make up for a lack of investigative experience in the post-apartheid South African Police force. There is currently at least one farm attack a day in South Africa; violence is common as is murder. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Getty Images.)

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BELFAST, SOUTH AFRICA, 27 FEBRUARY 2017: Farmers and members of the Democratic Alliance protest farm murders outside of the Magistrates Court where this morning three murder suspects will be arraigned for the killing of a local woman and the attempted murder of her husband on their farm outside of Dullstroom, South Africa. Farmers and people living in rural small holdings in South Africa have come to represent the most vulnerable population group on earth, statistically more than 4000 farmers have been murdered since 1994. Since the beginning of 2017, the Transvaal Agricultural Union reports there have been over 57 attacks and 30 murders on farms across the country. In this case, Robert Lynn, a farm attack victim lost his wife Sue to a brutal attack last week. The couple were overpowered in their house on the Marchlands farm in Dullstroom, South Africa on Sunday morning. Lynn’s wife, Susan Howarth, passed away in hospital on Tuesday, and Lynn was discharged on Wednesday. He said: “I woke up because the dogs were barking, and there was a racket at the bedroom window. After I sat up in bed, I heard the bedroom glass breaking. I suppose that is when they started shooting at us. I saw three flashes and I assumed they missed. I realized later that Sue was hit immediately in the initial attack” Men wearing balaclavas then pounded on Lynn, hitting him over the head with a gun. He was ordered to lie down. “They kept on asking where the money is. I told them that we don’t keep money, but they would not believe me.” Lynn gave them a couple of hundred rand he had in a money clip and his bank cards, telling his attackers that they would be able to withdraw R1 000 a day from it. Lynn was taken to the living room. Shortly after, attackers started burning him with a blowtorch on his chest and legs. His hands were tied with baling twine and the robbers then started cutting him with a knife in order to get him to confess to keeping more money or a gun safe somewhere.

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BELFAST, SOUTH AFRICA, 27 FEBRUARY 2017: Farm murder suspects are seen in the Belfast Magistrates Court, they are there to be arraigned for the killing of a local woman Susan Howarth and the attempted murder of her husband Robert Lynn on their farm outside of Dullstroom, South Africa. They were denied bail as they were caught in possesion of stolen goods from the farm and confessed to the murder to the investigating officer in the case. Farmers and people living in rural small holdings in South Africa have come to represent the most vulnerable population group on earth, statistically more than 4000 farmers have been murdered since 1994. Since the beginning of 2017, the Transvaal Agricultural Union reports there have been over 57 attacks and 30 murders on farms across the country. In this case, Robert Lynn, a farm attack victim lost his wife Sue to a brutal attack last week. The couple were overpowered in their house on the Marchlands farm in Dullstroom, South Africa on Sunday morning. Lynn’s wife, Susan Howarth, passed away in hospital on Tuesday, and Lynn was discharged on Wednesday. He said: “I woke up because the dogs were barking, and there was a racket at the bedroom window. After I sat up in bed, I heard the bedroom glass breaking. I suppose that is when they started shooting at us. I saw three flashes and I assumed they missed. I realized later that Sue was hit immediately in the initial attack” Men wearing balaclavas then pounded on Lynn, hitting him over the head with a gun. He was ordered to lie down. “They kept on asking where the money is. I told them that we don’t keep money, but they would not believe me.” Lynn gave them a couple of hundred rand he had in a money clip and his bank cards, telling his attackers that they would be able to withdraw R1 000 a day from it. Lynn was taken to the living room. Shortly after, attackers started burning him with a blowtorch on his chest and legs. His hands were tied with baling twine and the robbers th

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MODIMOLLE, SOUTH AFRICA, 16 FEBRUARY 2017: Stephan Hepburn, a young white farmer accused of murdering a black farm worker Jan Railo, consults with a friend in the jail at Modimolle police station. Hepburn was out hunting bushpigs in the night on his farm. Local hunters explain that Bushpigs are hunted at full moon without the aid of artifical light. The pigs tend to hide in the shadows which is where hunters look for movement. Allegedly, Jan Railo was lying low to the ground at the time, Hepburn said he saw movement in the shadows which he took to be a bushpig and fired. The victim is alleged to have been stealing corn at the time from the maize fields on the farm. He was not there legally and should not have been on the scene. It is alleged that 2 bags of maize cobs were found with the victim, stolen from the farmers fields. The incident comes at a time when tensions are high in the area between white farmers and black right wing party the Economic Freedom Front. Modimolle has a number of EFF council members for local government and it is alleged that the charge against Hepburn was pushed from culpable homicide to murder by one of these EFF councillors. The case was postponed in court until Monday while Hepburn's lawyer organizes his bail application. The EFF is attempting to influence a no bail situation. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Getty Images.)

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MODIMOLLE, SOUTH AFRICA, 16 FEBRUARY 2017: Stephan Hepburn, a young white farmer accused of murdering a black farm worker Jan Railo, seen in court at his bail application in Modimolle. Hepburn was out hunting bushpigs in the night on his farm. Local hunters explain that Bushpigs are hunted at full moon without the aid of artifical light. The pigs tend to hide in the shadows which is where hunters look for movement. Allegedly, Jan Railo was lying low to the ground, hiding from view at the time, Hepburn said he saw movement in the shadows which he took to be a bushpig and fired. The victim is alleged to have been stealing corn at the time from the maize fields on the farm. He was not there legally and should not have been on the scene. It is alleged that 2 bags of maize cobs were found with the victim, stolen from the farmers fields. The incident comes at a time when tensions are high in the area between white farmers and black right wing party the Economic Freedom Front. Modimolle has a number of EFF council members for local government and it is alleged that the charge against Hepburn was pushed from culpable homicide to murder by one of these EFF councillors. The case was postponed in court until Monday while Hepburn's lawyer organizes his bail application. The EFF is attempting to influence a no bail situation. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Getty Images.)

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PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA, 25 NOVEMBER 2016: A demonstration against farm murders by right wing groups and farmers by the statue of Afrikaner patriarch Paul Kruger. Official government statistics are censored by the ANC government but the highest figures state that 3398 farmers have been killed in farm attacks since 1994. Figures from the NGO Agriforum and the Transvaal Agricultural Unino place the number of murders just under 2000 and the number of attacks as close the 5000 since 1994. Farmers say that the numbers are far higher. The ANC government instructed the police to stop keeping these records, stating it was bad for investment. Right wing groups all say that officially police in South Africa have a 33/100000 chance of being killed every year. Farmers in South Africa have a 158/100000 chance making them the most vulnerable population group in the world. Since 1994 there have been 328 244 murders in South Africa, with over 80 000 whites killed. Farmers in particular have little recourse to the law and must largely protect themselves. They formed Kommando groups to do this but the ANC government banned these. Since then, farmers remain reliant on themselves and small community protection groups. On average, there is a farm attack in South Africa every second day. The vast majority of these attacks involve significant numbers of attackers and violence, torture and rape are common. These attacks have polarized South Africa further and hate speech by black right wing movements like the EFF has accelerated this. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Le Figaro.)

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VANDERKLOOF, NORTHERN CAPE, 3 DECEMBER 2016: Members of the Suidlanders movement learn to use radios and maps on a farm in the North West Cape region of South Africa. Suidlanders are a group of around 100,000.00 white people who believe that persecution against the whites of South Africa will reach a point soon where they will have to leave their homes around the country and congregate in a safe haven in the North West Cape region. There are clear instructions from the Suidlander leadership as to how to prepare for this exodus, from a year's food planning to areas where they can assemble and begin a new life through sustainable farming and self defence. Suidlanders believe that 2017 will be the year when black attacks against whites reach the point where this movement towards safety will be unavoidable. (Photo by Brent Stirton\Verbatim for Le Figaro.)

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THABAZIMBI, SOUTH AFRICA, 6 DECEMBER 2016: Corn fields at the side of the road in the farming area of Thabazimbi, South Africa. In 1994 there were approximately 105,000 commercial farmers in South Africa, now in 2016 there are just over 30, 000. Most of those farmers are well into retirement age and very few new young farmers are replacing them. This is due to the high rate of attacks on farmers and also the constant insecurity over their land rights going forward. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Le Figaro.)

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MARBLE HALL, SOUTH AFRICA, 14 FEBRUARY 2017: Farm laborers harvest a field in the farming district of Marble Hall, South Africa. Minimum wage in South Africa has been increased to R3500 and this is making things difficult for farmers to employ labor. Traditionally, much of the farm labor force lived on the property, with free accommodation, food, water, electricity and healthcare. Minimum wage is set to go up again to R5000 within the next two years. This will mean many farmers will be forced to let go their workforce and evict them from farms where they have often lived their whole lives. A local tomato farmer in the district say he will be forced to look at mechanical solutions and say he will have to cut his workforce of 200 down to 40 people. Many of these laborers have no education and will struggle to find work when they lose their positions. The minimum wage ruling was set by government without consultation with farmers. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim Photo for Getty Images.)

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THABAZIMBI, SOUTH AFRICA, 28 NOVEMBER 2016: Inside the home of murdered farmer Johannes Christiaan Theunissen. Johannes was asleep in bed when 4 attackers burst through his door, shooting him dead in the back before tearing the place apart in their attempt to find money. Conservative experts state that just under 4000 farmers have been killed in South Africa since 1994, with over 20,000 farm people attacked. In 1994 over 105 000 commercial farms existed, now it is down to just under 30,000. High inflation combined with a 35% unemployment rate mean food security is increasingly an issue as a result. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Le Figaro.)

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BELA BELA, SOUTH AFRICA, 21 FEBRUARY 2017: Abandoned farm labor living quarters lie open on a diminished farm. In 1994 over 105 000 commercial farms existed, now the number of working farms is down to just under 30,000. High inflation combined with a 35% unemployment rate mean food security is increasingly an issue as a result. Attacks on farms are often linked to an inside person increasing distrust between farmers and their labor. The ANC government have also increased the minimum wage law. This means farmers cannot afford to employ the same numbers and are increasingly turning to automation. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Getty Images.)

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SUNDRA, SOUTH AFRICA: Subsistence farms owned by black farmers under a storm cloud close to the farming district of Sundra. There are many black farmers in South Africa but few of them operate on a large scale. The post apartheid land restitution process has failed due to corruption and ineptitude. Black land claimants who have won land have most often chosen not to farm it and the land is often stripped of all assets and then lies fallow. In other cases where there is a will to farm, governemtn have not made subsidies and training available to run the farms and they fail within the first year. Until recently land redistribution has been based on a willing buyer willing seller approach. South Africa is entering the third round of land appropriations now, with President Zuma openly speaking about land appropriation without compensation, this echoes the rising voice of the black right wing and is angering white farmers who vow to fight back. Land appropriation without compensation is currently against the South African constitution and is illegal. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Getty Images)

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DELMAS, SOUTH AFRICA, 6 DECEMBER 2016: Old farm gates in areas of old white farming areas which have now been taken over by subsistence black farmers, South Africa. In 1994 there were approximately 105,000 commercial farmers in South Africa, now in 2016 there are just over 30, 000. Most of those farmers are well into retirement age and very few new young farmers are replacing them. This is due to the high rate of attacks on farmers and also the constant insecurity over their land rights going forward. There are many black farmers in South Africa but few of them operate on a large scale. The post apartheid land restitution process has failed due to corruption and ineptitude. Black land claimants who have won land have most often chosen not to farm it and the land is often stripped of all assets and then lies fallow. In other cases where there is a will to farm, governemtn have not made subsidies and training available to run the farms and they fail within the first year. Until recently land redistribution has been based on a willing buyer willing seller approach. South Africa is entering the third round of land appropriations now, with President Zuma openly speaking about land appropriation without compensation, this echoes the rising voice of the black right wing and is angering white farmers who vow to fight back. Land appropriation without compensation is currently against the South African constitution and is illegal. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Verbatim for Getty Images)

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