President Trump tweeted that he had directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to investigate “the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers”: South African farm killings — where victims are typically members of the country’s white, Afrikaans-speaking minority — are often extremely brutal in nature, involving prolonged periods of torture.

Farming in South Africa became one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, because of abhorrent in its cruelty murders of predominantly white farmers and their families. The government continuously rejects the political motives behind the murders, while farmers themselves blame Marxist groups for extremism, pushing farmers away in land grab attempts, promoted by certain political forces, including  those led by Julius Malema.

This year  dominated by the Marxist African National Congress (ANC), voted on to confiscate without compensation all of the land owned by white farmers in South Africa.

A number of private organisations and agricultural trade unions collect and publish their own statistics on farm murders and attacks. When citing and interpreting these statistics it is crucial to check the definition being used to identify incidences. They may differ from the official statistics released by the police, indicating farm murder rate of 156 per 100,000.

The AfriForum Research Institute collected and assessed statistics for 2016/2018 recording 357 attacks and 74 murders between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017. The official police farm attacks statistics differ but their tally of farm murders was the same.

The institute’s report notes that their statistics were collected by monitoring traditional and social media. They also rely on security networks and victims to directly report attacks.

Author of the report and researcher at the institute, Lorraine Claasen, told Africa Check that they record incidences that occur on residential smallholdings and rural plots, which differs from the police’s definition.

(There are no scenes of violence or disturbing graphics on the video below, however the interviewed refers to facts of atrocities committed by farm murderers).