South Africa-based journalist Kate Steinke is a graduate of Stellenbosch University. She comments occasionally on current affairsLast week, during a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, U.S. President Donald Trump raised concerns about ongoing violence against white farmers in South Africa. Trump confronted Ramaphosa with video evidence of farm murders, racist chants, and footage of the Witkruis memorial. Ramaphosa refused to acknowledge the issue.What followed was a concerted effort by major American and Canadian media outlets to dismiss the claims as a far-right conspiracy theory — downplaying or outright denying the systemic killing of white farmers in rural South Africa.President Trump recently granted refugee status to all white South Africans. The first group of refugees arrived in the U.S. in May. One woman had survived four attacks in the span of two years. Trump’s move was labelled as right-wing fear-mongering by the media, but the situation on the ground is real, brutal and tragically underreported..Although white farmers represent a small fraction of South Africa’s population, they are disproportionately affected by crime. In recent years, attacks have grown in frequency and brutality, often involving robbery, torture, mutilation, and murder.According to AfriForum, a civil rights group that represents Afrikaners, there were 77 farm attacks and 9 murders in the first quarter of 2023. In 2024, the number of recorded attacks rose to 188, with 34 murders. By mid-January 2025, 16 more attacks and 3 additional murders had been reported.At the Witkruis monument in Limpopo, more than 3,000 white crosses stand in memory of farmers killed since 2004. The site is marked by the word plaasmoorde — “farm murders” — symbolising the struggle for survival of white South African farmers..Many of these attacks occur in remote areas, where police response is slow or nonexistent. Victims are vulnerable and isolated, and the elderly are particularly at risk. In a recent farm attack in early May, a 78-year-old farmer was assaulted and murdered on his plot in Polokwane, in the Limpopo province. He was found lying with a cloth in his mouth, in a pool of his own blood. He had been bound with wire and had severe wounds on his forehead. Younger farmers are not exempt. In March, a 30-year-old farmer was murdered on his property in the Free State, after being beaten and tortured with an iron thread puller.In South Africa, private security companies have taken the role of law enforcement. One such organisation is R24 International, founded by Marlize Holtzhausen after a personal tragedy. In 2010, her pregnant sister, Monya, was robbed, kidnapped, and raped on her farm, while her family was abducted. Monya survived, as did her fiancé and 2 children, but they live with the mental scars. Two of the attackers have since been released, and the third is up for parole.Despite the growing number of cases, many in the mainstream media refuse to investigate the issue of targeted attacks on white farmers. The rapid dismissal of these cases reveals an unwillingness to acknowledge violence when the victims’ stories do not align with left-wing beliefs..And it’s not only farmers who suffer. In 2024, while living in Cape Town, I myself was tied up, robbed, and held at gunpoint. No fingerprints were taken. The case was closed within weeks. My family has also experienced two attempted break-ins. These are not incidental. They reflect the daily reality of many South Africans — including poor, rural whites — who are not protected by the state, or represented by the South African or Western media.In a recent CBC interview, former BBC journalist Lerato Mbele claimed that crime affects all poor South Africans. While it’s true that the majority are Black South Africans, over 40,000 impoverished white South Africans live in informal settlements like Sonskyn Hoek near Pretoria — and are routinely ignored by the media, despite being vulnerable to violent crime.An MSNBC reporter recently claimed that with more than 100,000 white farmers in South Africa, there is no cause for alarm. Yet, according to Stats SA and agricultural economists, the number of commercial farms has decreased from around 60,000 in the early 1990s to fewer than 40,000 today. These farmers still produce over 80% of the country’s food, yet they face increasing political hostility and physical danger.The situation is dire. South Africa’s food security, and social and political stability all depend on these farmers. Their marginalisation — through murder, threats, and denial — has potentially severe consequences that extend beyond ideology.The war on South Africa’s farmers is not a “white supremacist myth.” It is an ongoing humanitarian crisis — ignored by media and denied by those in power. Truth should never be subject to ideology. And if South Africans are to heal South Africa and continue to call it home, we must begin by confronting facts — even in the face of opposition and denial.South Africa-based journalist Kate Steinke is a graduate of Stellenbosch University. She comments occasionally on current affairs for The Western Standard.
