Active case
South African farm attacks
South African "farm attacks" (plaasaanvalle) is a term used to describe a range of violent crimes — assault, murder, rape, and robbery — committed on commercial farms and smallholdings in South Africa. The term has no formal legal definition under South African statutory law and is instead used administratively, notably by the South African Police Service (SAPS) National Operational Co-ordinating Committee, to describe crimes committed by outsiders against farm residents, workers, and visitors, excluding "social fabric crimes" such as domestic violence within farming communities. Human Rights Watch has criticised the term for suggesting a terrorist or military motive that it does not believe applies to most incidents.
The attacks affect both white and black farmers and farmworkers. Government statistics indicate that black victims outnumber white victims in farm attacks, and that such attacks are relatively rare within South Africa's broader crime landscape, which recorded roughly 20,000 murders annually nationwide during 2015–2017, compared with an estimated 58 to 74 farm murders per year in the same period. The 2003 Report of the Special Committee of Inquiry into Farm Attacks, commissioned by SAPS, found that most attacks were motivated by material gain rather than political or racial motives. Researchers such as Johan Burger of the Institute for Security Studies have similarly attributed the attacks primarily to greed rather than race.
Since SAPS stopped releasing separate farm-murder statistics in 2007, most subsequent estimates have relied on data from farming organisations such as the Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa (TAUSA), which some researchers argue underrepresents the true scope of attacks by excluding smallholdings.
The issue has become a flashpoint internationally, particularly in relation to the "white genocide" conspiracy theory, which holds that South African farm attacks disproportionately and deliberately target white farmers. Fact-checkers and multiple news organisations, including the BBC, CBS News, the Associated Press, and The New York Times, have described this claim as false or misleading. In August 2018, Fox News host Tucker Carlson promoted the claim, after which U.S. President Donald Trump instructed the Secretary of State to examine "South Africa land and farm seizures" — a move criticised by the South African government as misinformed. In March 2018, Australia's Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton, proposed fast-tracking asylum for white South African farmers, prompting a formal diplomatic protest from South Africa. The Afrikaner advocacy group AfriForum has been credited by multiple accounts with helping drive this international attention through lobbying tours in the United States and Australia. In May 2025, Trump reiterated the genocide claim in a televised meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, which the South African government and independent researchers have disputed as unsupported by evidence.
Domestically, the issue has prompted large protests, including a 2017 mass prayer meeting in Bloemfontein and the 2017 "#BlackMonday" convoy protest following the murder of a farmer in Klapmuts, as well as debate over policing resources, the disbanding of rural "commando" security units, and the political and racial framing of the attacks by various South African and international commentators.
Key facts
- Victims
- Brendin Horner, Joubert Conradie
- Date
- 2007
- Location
- South Africa (nationwide phenomenon)
- Case status
- ongoing
Case timeline
1913
The Natives' Land Act is adopted, restricting black South Africans' ownership and legal rental of land to around 10% of South Africa, later cited as background context for land-related discontent.
1997
President Nelson Mandela's government creates the Rural Protection Plan linking police, Farmwatch groups, and Commando volunteers.
1998
SAPS states there is no evidence of systematic organised farm attacks, while investigators continue examining the issue.
2001
A Committee of Inquiry into Farm Attacks is appointed by the National Commissioner of Police to examine motives and factors behind farm attacks.
2003
The Report of the Special Committee of Inquiry into Farm Attacks is released, concluding that most attacks are driven by material gain rather than political motives; the Freedom Front political party states farmers are being murdered at a rate of 274 per 100,000.
2003
The South African government begins disbanding rural commando security units, citing their association with the apartheid state's security apparatus.
2007
SAPS stops releasing separate homicide statistics for farm murders, merging them into overall homicide figures.
2011-12
Media reports estimate that approximately 3,158–3,811 South African farmers had been killed in farm attacks to date.
2012
A South African Institute of Race Relations report estimates farmers are 2 to 3 times more likely to be victims of homicide than other South Africans; Reuters reports a one-third decline in farmers of European descent since 1997.
2017-02
A spike in violent attacks on farmers occurs.
2017-04
A mass prayer meeting attracting over 1,000,000 participants is held in Bloemfontein on 22–23 April in response to farm attacks.
2017-10
Farmer Joubert Conradie is murdered in Klapmuts.
2017-10-30
The #BlackMonday protest convoy runs from Stellenbosch to Cape Town, attracting an estimated 10,000 protesters.
2018
South African government data shows farm attacks increasing between 2012 and 2018 while farm murders decrease year by year; AgriSA reports the farm murder rate at its lowest in 20 years.
2018-03
Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton proposes fast-tracking visas for white South African farmers, prompting a South African diplomatic protest.
2018-08
Fox News host Tucker Carlson comments on alleged disproportionate targeting of white farmers; several media fact-checkers later describe the segment as false or misleading.
2018-08
U.S. President Donald Trump instructs Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study South African land and farm seizures following Carlson's broadcast.
2018-10
AfriForum tours Australia to raise awareness of farm attacks, meeting Australian parliamentarians.
2020
Farm manager Brendin Horner is murdered; protesters later storm Senekal Magistrates Court where two suspects are held, overturning and setting fire to a police vehicle.
2020
Agricultural organisations TAUSA and Free State Agriculture report increased attacks and murders over the full year, following a decline during South Africa's COVID-19 lockdown.
2025-05-21
In a televised meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, Donald Trump repeats the claim that farm attacks form part of an ongoing genocide against South Africa's white minority.
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People
Brendin Horner
VICTIMFarm manager whose 2020 murder led to protests at Senekal Magistrates Court, including the overturning and burning of a police vehicle.
Joubert Conradie
VICTIMFarmer murdered near Klapmuts in October 2017, an event that prompted the #BlackMonday protest convoy.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Places
Common questions
- What happened to the victim?
- "South African farm attacks" refers to a category of violent crimes — including assault, murder, rape, and robbery — committed on farms and smallholdings in South Africa, with no formal legal definition; the phenomenon has become the subject of international political controversy, particularly around unsubstantiated claims of racial targeting of white farmers.
- Where did the crime happen?
- South Africa (nationwide phenomenon).
- What is the current status of the case?
- Status: ongoing.
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Sources
- ENCYCLOPEDICSouth African farm attacksWikipedia · 2026-07-10
- PRESSDutton considers fast-track visas for white South African farmersThe Guardian · 2026-07-10