SENEKAL, South Africa (Reuters) – White South African farmers and Black protesters hurled abuse and threats at each other on Friday during a court hearing in a murder case that has exposed still simmering racial tensions 26 years after the end of apartheid.The killing of Brendan Horner, a white man whose body was found tied to a pole at his farm in Free State province, sparked riots at the start of this month, and prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to appeal to South Africans to âresist attempts … to mobilise communities along racial linesâ.The farmers outside the courthouse in the town of Senekal accused the government of failing to protect them from violent crime. Their opponents, from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), complained about what they see as the continued domination of South Africaâs economy by whites, while many Black South Africans remain as poor as they did under apartheid.EFF leader Julius Malema sat inside the courtroom in which the two murder suspects filed a request for bail during Fridayâs hearing. The judge adjourned the case until Oct. 20.Afterwards, Malema told a rally of thousands, âdonât be confused by the so-called farm murdersâ, adding that many more Black South Africans were victims of violent crime.âThose are the ones who deserve our sympathy, not the old, white racists. We donât want to kill (the) white man. We want equality.âEFF supporter Khaya Langile, from Soweto, said, âIâm here because of white people … taking advantage of us.âTIRED OF MURDERSEarlier, police separated the two groups with razor wire in one street, but despite the noisy standoff there was no violence.âThere have been indications of tensions but by and large all of them took a decision that they did not want to see violence,â State Security minister Ayanda Dlodlo said outside the court.The farmers mostly wore khaki shirts and shorts, a few wore military outfits, and at least one was armed. A group on motorbikes sporting long beards drove through Senekal, some waving flags emblazoned with crosses.âWe are getting tired now of all the farm murders,â said Geoffrey Marais, 30, a white livestock trader from Delmas, where a woman was strangled to death two weeks ago.âEnough is enough. They (the government) must start to prioritise these crimes.âMurders of white farmers make up a small fraction of the total in South Africa, which has the worldâs fifth highest murder rate. In the 2019/20 financial year there were 21,325 murders across the country, of which 49 were white farmers, according to police statistics.The farmers also feel threatened by a government plan to expropriate white-owned land without compensation as part of an effort to redress economic inequalities that remain stark a quarter of a century after the end of apartheid.Roughly 70% of privately-owned farmland in South Africa is owned by whites, who make up less than 9% of the countryâs population of 58 million.Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Gareth Jones and Giles Elgoodfor-phone-onlyfor-tablet-portrait-upfor-tablet-landscape-upfor-desktop-upfor-wide-desktop-up
This post originally appeared on and written by:
1
Drudge Report
SAfrican white farmers, Black protesters face off over farm murder case…
October 17, 2020 by