Key Takeaways:
- White Afrikaner farmers in South Africa are applying for refugee status in the US, citing fear of attacks and persecution.
- The US has made the resettlement of Afrikaners a priority, despite announcing a reduction in its yearly intake of refugees.
- Violent crime is endemic in South Africa, with a high homicide rate and low police response rates.
- Black farmers are also victims of farm attacks, and many believe that the attacks are not targeted at a specific race.
- The South African government has denied claims of a "white genocide" and has released statistics showing that most farm murder victims are black.
Introduction to the Crisis
The 4m-high electric steel gates, capped with spikes, creak open as Marthinus, a farmer, drives through in his pick-up truck. Cameras positioned at the entrance track his every move, while reams of barbed wire surround the farm in the rural Free State province in the heart of South Africa. Marthinus, a white Afrikaner, manages a farm with his wife and two young daughters, and the fear of being attacked is very real for him. His grandfather and his wife’s grandfather were both murdered in farm attacks, and he lives a two-hour drive from where the body of 21-year-old farm manager Brendan Horner was discovered five years ago, tied to a pole, with a rope around his neck.
The Fear of Attack
Marthinus says he can’t take a chance with his own family and, in February, they applied for refugee status in the US. "I’m prepared to do that to get a better life for my wife and children. Because I don’t want to be slaughtered and be hanged on a pole," he says. Not all white South Africans agree that they’re being targeted, and black farmers are also victims of the country’s high crime rate. Marthinus will be leaving his farm behind if he moves to the US, but he believes it’s a necessary step to ensure his family’s safety. The US has made the resettlement of Afrikaners a priority, despite announcing a reduction in its yearly intake of refugees.
The Reality of Farm Attacks
Violent crime in South Africa is endemic, with a high homicide rate and low police response rates. The latest crime figures released in November for the first quarter of 2025 show there was an average of 63 murders every day. While this was a decrease on the same period in 2024, South Africa’s homicide rate remains one of the highest in the world. Farmer Thabo Makopo, a black farmer, is also worried about being targeted by criminals. "They are young men. They are armed and dangerous. Whether they will lose their life or take yours, they are going to take those livestock," he says. Thabo believes all farmers in the province, regardless of their race, are at risk of attack.
The Debate Over White Genocide
The theory that white people are being persecuted for their race, once an idea confined to far-right groups in South Africa, continues to be propelled into the mainstream. However, many farmers, like Morgan Barrett, who is white, reject the idea that there is a "white genocide". "I don’t buy that narrative that in this area the attacks are against whites only," he says. "If they thought that the black guy had 20,000 rand ($1,200; £880) sitting in his safe, they’d attack him just as quickly as they’d attack the white guy with 20,000 [rand] in the safe." The South African government has also denied claims of a "white genocide", releasing statistics showing that most farm murder victims are black.
The Legacy of Apartheid
Systematic racial persecution is something black people in South Africa, who make up more than 80% of the population, faced for decades under the apartheid system. The regime was enforced through violence and repression, and even though apartheid ended in 1994, the profound racial inequalities continue to exist more than 30 years later. The post-apartheid government did introduce affirmative action policies to try and redress some of the issues, but these have been criticized by some for not being effective and introducing "race quotas". Nevertheless, 72% of private farmland is still in white hands, according to the government’s 2017 Land Audit report.
The Human Cost of Crime
The impact of crime and violence on individuals and families is devastating. Nthabiseng Nthathakana, a black South African, owns a small general store in Meqheleng, a township on the outskirts of Ficksburg. Her husband, Thembani Ncgango, was murdered during a robbery in January this year. "He had bullets everywhere and stab wounds. They had stabbed him and hit him with rocks," she says. No-one has been arrested for his murder, and Nthabiseng is now the sole provider for her four children. "The kids ask questions: ‘Mama who killed dad?’ And you don’t know what to say," she says.
A New Beginning
Two hours’ drive from Ficksburg, Marthinus and his family have just found out their refugee application to the US has been successful. They’re busy planning the big move, waiting to hear when their flights will be allocated. Marthinus maintains that white people are being persecuted in South Africa, and he’s grateful to be getting away from the feeling of fear. "A lot of people believe that it’s a political thing to get rid of us as white farmers or white people in this country, so they can have this land for themselves and this place for themselves," he says. "I’m really grateful to be getting away from this feeling of fear. I’m thankful to almighty God for answering our prayers."