Essay format for the question: "Explain the nature & extent of home invasions, farm killings & torture in SA – Highlight your answer by critically discussing the use of gratuitous violence during crime incidents in SA"
Explain the nature & extent of home invasions, farm killings & torture in SA – Highlight your
answer by critically discussing the use of gratuitous violence during crime incidents in SA
1. INTRODUCTION
The Constitution of our country guarantees every person the right to life & the right to security, which
includes among other things, the right to be free from all forms of violence from either public/private
sources. The Constitution further guarantees that adequate protection of such rights is fundamental to the
well-being, social/economic development of every person. This right is being violated on a daily basis in SA.
Crime & violence are experienced as an escalating crisis in the SA society. Every person reacts differently to
and copes in his/her own way with traumatic circumstances & should receive care & therapy in accordance
with his/her particular experience with & reaction to such trauma. During 2017/2018 more than 22 million
crime cases were registered in the RSA. Murder increased from 19 016 murders in 2016/17 to 20 336 in
2017/18. This means that there were 1 320 more people murdered in SA 2017/18, thus ± 57 murders per
day. SA‟s murder rate was rated as the fifth highest in the world by UNOCD in 2015.
Professor Rudolf Zinn conducted a research study with 30 perpetrators who were convicted & incarcerated
for the crime of “aggravated robbery” to understand the motives of the offender & the nature of their
crimes to attempt to help the police force combat this crime. This research study will be referred to
throughout this essay to explain the nature extent of home invasions & how info can be useful to police.
It is frightening to discover that more people die in SA than in countries of war. Pretoria is the hijack
capital of the world. The SA population is at risk every day from people trying to provide for themselves &
their families & using crimes of violence to achieve these goals. Gratuitous violence is the use of more
violence that is necessary to subdue victims & plays an NB role in home invasions & farm attacks. The most
difficult notion to understand with this is the motivation to cause death/trauma for little/no gain BUT
causes irreparable psychological & physical damage.
2. FARM ATTACKS
Farm attacks are quite unique to SA. Although crimes such as murder, robbery with aggravating
circumstances & rape do occur on commercial farms elsewhere in the world, these have been singled out
for special attention in SA due to the sensitivity & the scale of the issue. Although the large number of farm
attacks has been dwarfed by the number of violent crimes committed in urban areas, the prioritisation of
farm attacks could mean that victims are more likely to see an arrest, & the prosecution & conviction of a
perpetrator. In the context of severely limited resources, any disproportional allocation of resources to
tackle any one type of crime (no matter how politically sensitive) can only be at the expense of other
needs. In the long run, addressing farm attacks depends on justice not only being done to farm attackers
but on justice being done & being seen to be done with respect to criminal behaviour at large - & this
within the context of less social & economic injustice. Statistically in SA, it is more dangerous to be a
farmer than a policeman.
Robbing a farm has huge financial benefits for a perpetrator. 1st it is a good score as there are an
abundance of appliances, food sources/alcohol on farms due to the large distances from shops. Farms are
isolated which leads to a lesser chance of apprehension & gunshots don‟t raise red flags as neighbouring
farms will more than likely suspect that their neighbour is merely hunting. It is due to these benefits that
farm attacks in particular has shown a steep increase in the past couple of years despite increasing safety
precautions taken by farmers.
, KRM 320(B): UNIT 4
Farm attacks not only have an influence on the individuals directly involved, but also on all the secondary
victims such as family members living elsewhere, friends, visitors & the community at large. Farm attacks
can be defined as acts aimed against the persons/residents on farms & smallholdings, whether with the
intent to murder, rape, rob, steal/inflict bodily harm. Most victims of farm attacks believe that farm attacks
have a political motive, namely to remove the family from their farm. This political motive can be
questioned as black farmers as well as farmers of other races are also attacked.
2.1 NATURE OF FARM ATTACKS
Overall, more men than women become victims of farm attacks, seeing that men mostly work beyond the
confines of the home & are thus more vulnerable to attacks. The farmer‟s family & sometimes farm
workers are detained by the attackers for a couple of hours while attackers wait for the return of the
farmer in order to attack & murder him. The actual farm attack lasted for 38 minutes on average. The
attacks were extremely brutal & violent. It seemed as if perpetrators not only focused on killing the victim,
but also on inflicting pain & bringing about suffering. The most common forms of violence include being
tied up, being cut with knives, beating, palpating, kicking, bashing, threatening, undressing, gun wounds &
rape. The attacks are precise & planned with every perpetrator knowing exactly what their tasks are. Very
often these attacks are accompanied by extreme violence & torture, similar to house attacks. The
difference is that often during attacks on farms, criminals have more time to commit them. That's why you
see more brutality as the victims are more isolated & often unable to signal/call for help.
2.2 EXTENT OF FARM ATTACKS
Statistically, the picture is far from clear/complete; the political & racial sensitivities that swirl around farm
attacks in South Africa appear just as likely to blind the scientists. There are no global data on farm attacks
in the country. Different organisations have put together their own statistics & surveys. Much of it is out of
date, covers different time periods & fails to give detailed breakdowns of who, within farming communities,
is under attack.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) stopped releasing figures in 2007 as they said that farm attacks no
longer occur. AgriSA, recorded 1 541 murders & 10 151 attacks in the period from 1994 to 2008 = an
average of 0.3 murders a day. The Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU) recorded 1 266 murders & 2070
attacks in the period from 1991 to 2009 = average of 0.2 murders a day. The Institute for Security Studies
of the University of Pretoria, using statistics provided by TAU in June last year, reported 1 073 murders & 1
813 attacks in the period from 1993 to 2009 = an average of 0.2 murders a day. The only available figures
on the SAPS website when we asked for statistical information about farm attacks pertain to a general
overview of murder statistics in South Africa as a whole. It is very difficult to know the extent & prevent
future farms attacks when the info available is so limited & there seems to be no effort by SAPS to improve
this lack of knowledge.
It has been reported that farm attacks are 700% higher in SA than in any other place in the world. In
1994, SA had 117 000 farms & now in 2015 we are down to roughly 30 000. The decrease in farms is
having a serious impact on our community & our economy as now food that was previously farmed is now
being imported & we don‟t have the budget to sustain these imports. Farm attacks have massive financial
implications & these leads to many farms becoming abandoned after being attacked
3. HOME INVASION
'House robbery' is the term formulated by the SAPS to describe a robbery where the perpetrators
overpower, detain & rob the residents (occupants) of a residential premise inside their residence. House
robbery is a sub-category of aggravated robbery. A distinction must be made between ordinary
housebreaking/burglary & house robbery. House robbery is a crime that includes interpersonal violence.
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