There is a lot of talk about farm murders doing the rounds, and it’s often difficult to separate the reality from the fiction.

The problem lies in the complexity of the issue. It has become so intertwined with politics and social dynamics, and it’s being used to stoke up anger.

Afriforum’s hyperbolic version of events even made it onto Fox News recently and, of course, what happens on Fox News, goes on Trump’s Twitter feed in the worst possible way.

Police Minister Bheki Cele recently released the crime statistics for 2017/2018. The stats included a report of farm killings that don’t quite match up with the proposed numbers that have been doing the rounds both nationally and internationally.

Here’s the Daily Maverick:

“Something like 400 white farmers have been murdered, brutally murdered, over the last 12 months.”

That’s what former Australian prime minister Tony Abott told a Sydney radio station in March this year, in support of the proposal to fast-track Australian visas for white South African farmers.

The real figure is 46, the South African Police Service (SAPS) told Parliament this week as part of its annual crime statistics release.

The difference between 400 and 46 is so huge that even Afriforum, who have spent the last while lobbying overseas on the plight of white farmers, had to concede:

“Murder statistics tend to be accurate,” AfriForum’s Ian Cameron (below) told Daily Maverick on Wednesday. “It looks accurate.”

The police’s statistics for murder victims on farms and smallholdings were, unusually, disaggregated for race – a sign of the pressure that groups like AfriForum have succeeded in placing on authorities when it comes to reporting on this type of crime.

The police’s Norman Sekhukhune told Parliament that 62 murders were recorded in total over 2017/18 during 58 attacks on South African farms or smallholdings. Ten of those killed were farmworkers or managers, and 52 were the owners or occupiers of the land.

33 house robberies, six attempted murders and two rapes were also reported to have occurred on farms.

The farm murders made up 62 of the total 20 336 murders nationwide over the period in which the stats were recorded, meaning that farm murders make up just over 3% of all killings in South Africa over the past year.

This figure has led many South Africans to question the level of importance that has been given to the farm murder debate in the national discourse.

Afriforum maintains that it’s still an important issue, even going as far as to suggest that the figures relating to non-fatal attacks may have been tampered with to prevent them from achieving their goals.

The basis for their claim is that their records, collected via 7 200 community safety members across the country, don’t match up to the SAPS records.

In a meeting which took place on Wednesday between AfriForum and farmers’ unions, [Cameron] says that the organisations were unanimous: “The attack statistics [don’t] make sense.”

When Sekhukhune reported to Parliament, however, he said that police cross-referenced their numbers with those kept by other agricultural stakeholders. He also clarified that the statistics excluded domestic violence or crimes resulting from “liquor abuse” or “common social interaction”.

The debate rages on as to whether or not farm murders and attacks should be given precedence over the 57 general murders per day.

Afriforum argues that farmers make up a small, but important portion of the population, who are therefore disproportionately affected by crime.  They also argue that farm deaths have a negative effect on the economy, but were unable to provide data to support this claim.

Honestly, in a country facing crime statistics that rival those of a war zone, it’s hard to say definitively who faces the greatest danger.

Best practice is to stick to the facts, and avoid the hype and fear mongering.

[source:dailymaverick]