Watch: Making sense of Senekal – the truth about race and farm murders

It has been almost one month since the 21-year-old farm manager Brendin Horner was found tied to a post, outside of a remote farmstead in Free State. His brutal death, and the subsequent criminal proceedings, have inadvertently made Senekal a hot-spot for race-related tensions in South Africa.

Senekal latest: How the land lies one month on

October has given us some whirlwind developments in this case: Two arrests were made, then the bail hearing was marred by violent protests and an attempt to attack the suspects – one of whom has since been granted his temporary freedom due to a ‘lack of evidence’. All this played out amid clashes between farmers, right-wing activists, and EFF supporters.

Race, sadly, came to dominate the narrative in Senekal. But farm murders are not a ‘black vs white’ issue. All farmers, of all colours, are deeply impacted by rural crime – and a seeming inability of the government to handle this matter properly.

“Farm murders are not racially motivated” – ISS

Johan Burger is a representative for the Institute For Security Studies. As one of Africa’s most prominent think-tanks, his voice matters. Burger has used this flashpoint of race to dismiss any links between farm murders and ‘black on white crime’. According to the expert, the colour of a victim’s skin is very rarely a motivation in these cases.

“Farm attack victims are from all racial groups. The demographics of our farming ownership community is still predominantly white, however. Now you see we have an emerging category of farmers that are black, coloured, and Indian. You have to remember that most farmworkers are black, and they are also victims of these crimes.”

Johan Burger

Watch: How Senekal became SA’s focal point for race

Free State farmers ‘shaken’ by Brendin Horner killing

Unfortunately, whether race is a motivating factor or not, this type of crime continues to plague agricultural communities. Robert Mphuthi is a local farmer in Senekal. As a black landowner, he has been targeted several times by thieves. He has been badly affected by this trend in rural crime, and stock theft has forced him to trim down his flock of sheep.

“It’s gone from bad to worse. The killings are just… it’s bad… they no longer come to just take people’s animals. Thieves are out to kill any of us farmers. It’s just all so crazy.”

Robert Mphuthi

Gilly Scheepers, who owns the farm that Brendin Horner used to manage, has also expressed his shock at what has taken place in Senekal over the past four weeks. The close colleague of the victim is still shaken by the event that jolted our nation:

“It’s harrowing when something like this happens to you. They left his body in the field. You always hear it happens elsewhere, but it was a horrible day. I never thought this would occur here.”

Gilly Scheepers