JONATHAN JANSEN: Farm killings and race in South Africa
'On Facebook I posed the question: Why do South Africans, other than white Afrikaans readers, not seem to care about these farm murders?'
I read Afrikaans and English newspapers. You might as well be reading about two different countries when it comes to death. In the past few weeks the Afrikaans papers have led with horrific stories of farm deaths including hours of torture and cruelty. Such reports are accompanied by graphic images of death and wrenching photos of weeping relatives. They are heartbreaking, these images of farming families slaughtered on their properties. Then comes the politics.Rightwing groups mobilise to present these tragic deaths as an assault on the white race. Local and international websites peddle a narrative of black revenge on white bodies. These blacks don't just kill, they martel (torture) their victims to make a point. To ordinary white citizens reading these almost daily accounts of farm murders in Afrikaans newspapers, it certainly feels as if these brutal killings are about them. The protests this week made this point as a T-shirt carried the message "100% Boer" and an appeal was mad...
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