South Africa

Two South African Farmers Killed Every Week
The Telegraph, April 20, 2010
"Since 1991, there have been 11,785 attacks and 1,804 murders, and the problem is getting worse, Andre Botha, the president of Agri SA warned. Mr. Botha told the South African parliament's police committee: 'We're talking about two attacks per day, we're talking about two farm murders per week, and it's increasing. What is a very worrying aspect is the brutality in which the murders are conducted.' It follows the recent killing of the far-Right leader Eugene Terreblanche, who was allegedly murdered by two farmworkers. His death inflamed South Africa's race tensions amid anger over a 'shoot the Boer [farmer]' slogan sung by Julius Malema, the ANC Youth League leader. Farm killings are a racially charged matter in South Africa with official reforms having failed to dent apartheid land patterns that left the bulk of farms in white hands 16 years after majority rule. Mr. Botha said one of the biggest challenges facing agriculture was irresponsible remarks from government officials and political leaders. 'The hate speech and the inflammatory remarks should not be tolerated,' he said.
Today the African National Congress said that Mr. Maleam, 29, would be subject to internal disciplinary action. In a statement the party said: 'The ANC has preferred charges against the ANC Youth League President, Comrade Julius Malema. In this regard, we would like to restate that issues of discipline in the ANC belongs to the structures of the ANC and are therefore not matters for the public or the media.'"