by Ernst Roets
‘The most common forms of physical torture that occur during the commitment of a farm attack include beatings, stabbings, burning victims with boiling water, molten plastic and hot clothes irons,’ writes Bezuidenhout. ‘It also includes instances of detainment against the victims’ will, and assaults on the sexual integrity of the person. Some farmers are even slaughtered like animals or dragged behind their own vehicles (they are tied to the vehicle with a rope and dragged for vast distances).’2 Duxita Mistry, senior researcher at the Institute for Human Rights and Criminal Justice Studies at Technikon SA, and her colleague Jabu Dhlamini found that the most common forms of violence the attackers displayed were burning, strangulation of the victims, pointing of firearms and gagging of the victims with a cloth.3
‘Psychological torture during farm attacks,’ Bezuidenhout continues, ‘includes belittling, threats, attempted and threatened assault and threats to other family members. Sometimes they are forced to undress whereafter their sexual integrity becomes the focus of defamation.’4
WHAT IS TORTURE?
Torture is defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) as follows:
‘[T]orture’ means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.5
The political element included in the definition (involvement of a public official) is problematic, as it makes the use of the word torture as it is defined here difficult to apply to severely brutal crimes where public officials are not involved. The consequence is that an act that complies with every element of this definition, except for the political element, would technically not be seen as torture. The result is a definition that is detached from reality.
The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) further explains that torture is often used to punish, to obtain information or a confession, to take revenge on a person or persons, or to create terror and fear within a population. Some of the most common methods of physical torture across the globe include beating, electric shocks, stretching, submersion, suffocation, burns, rape and sexual assault.6
Certainly, as we will see in Part 2 of this book, an argument could be made that public officials are involved either directly, as we have seen in some cases, or acquiescent, through government’s creation of a political climate in which violence towards white farmers in particular is romanticised, its refusal to acknowledge the extent of the problem and its failure to address it. While verifiable proof that public officials are involved in the killings themselves is slim, it is certainly not non-existent. It is argued in this book that a political climate – or zeitgeist – exists in South Africa according to which farmers are the victims of negative stereotypes and where inflicting violence upon white farmers in particular is romanticised up to the highest level of government. In that sense it can be said that the involvement of public officials in farm attacks is a reality – in some cases directly, but in general terms indirectly.
The inclusion of a political element in the UNCAT definition has been widely criticised. It should be emphasised that whatever the technical definition of torture is, it does not change the realities on South Africa’s farms. The point was made in Chapter 2 that we should not be so fixated on technical legal definitions that we lose sight of the realities at grassroots level. Furthermore, it should also be emphasised that the UNCAT definition is not the only definition. Torture is defined by the Concise Oxford English Dictionary7 as: ‘… the action or practice of inflicting severe pain as a punishment or a forcible means of persuasion.’
Regardless of this debate, we will continue to use the word torture to refer to farm attacks and farm murders where severe pain or suffering was inflicted as a way of obtaining information from, intimidating or of punishing the victim.
During the financial year of 2016/2017 victims were tortured in at least 13 (17,6%) of the 74 farm murders that occurred that year.8
HOW BAD DOES IT GET?
The brutality of these attacks can be illustrated by hundreds of examples. The notorious case of the Potgieter murders, during which Attie Potgieter was stabbed 151 times with a gardenfork, a panga (English: machete) and a knife, before the execution of his baby daughter, Wilmien, and his wife, Wilna, was mentioned in Chapter 1. All that was stolen was R3 300 ($264).
Upon his retirement after 40 years in the South African Police Service (SAPS), Captain Francois Laux said that the 17 farm murders that he had had to investigate during his career were the worst crimes he had ever seen. One of the cases Laux had to investigate was the murder of Johan Fourie (71) and his wife, Cecile (72), near Trompsburg in the Free State in September 2012. They had been hacked to death with an axe and a shovel.9 Laux’s sentiment is echoed by many serving and retired police officers.
On 7 April 2006 Koos (82) and Tina van Wyk (57) were attacked by five men on their farm near Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal. Koos was struck over the head with an AK-47, after which both victims were tied up with rope so tightly that it cut through their skin. Koos and Tina were then separated: Koos was taken to the bathroom and Tina to the living room. Koos was gagged to prevent him from making any noise, before he was dumped in the tub, which was filled with extremely hot water. Tina was then told that her husband was dead and threatened that her eyes would be cut out if she did not tell them where the keys to the safe were. She was grabbed by her feet and dragged towards the bedroom. One attacker told her that he would make her feel like a ‘special woman’. She was laid down in the hallway, after which the attackers stepped on her breasts, legs and stomach. The attackers later fled with the couple’s 4x4, loaded with a television, two sewing machines, firearms, jewellery and R250 ($20) in cash. Tina was able to crawl to Koos, free them from their restraints and call the SAPS. Koos had such severe burns on his feet that the soles came off, which they later found on the dining-room table.10
On 6 March 2009, Alice Lotter (76) and her daughter Helen (57) were tortured to death on their farm in Allenridge near Welkom in the Free State. Their home was several hundred metres from the Allenridge police station.
Both women were tortured for hours, being stabbed with broken glass bottles in their vaginas. One of the women also had her breasts cut off while she was still alive.
Helen’s injuries were so extreme that the medical examiner was unable to tell if she had also been raped. Alice had been stabbed in the neck and throat and had drowned in her own blood. Their blood was used to write the words ‘Kill the Boer’ on the walls of their homestead.11
On 15 May 2010, Johan Strydom, a 40-year-old farmer from Parys in the Free State, was struck on the head with an iron rod, crushing his skull.12 He was then tied behind his pickup truck with a chain and dragged over a farm road until he died of a burst liver. His cellphone, wallet and vehicle were stolen, only to be found later.13 The same happened to André van der Merwe (49) from Ottosdal in North West on 30 April 2011. Upon hearing a noise outside the house, Van der Merwe went to investigate, when he was held at gunpoint by three men. He was shot in the chest, back and head. While still alive, Van der Merwe was tied to his own vehicle with barbed wire around his feet and dragged for approximately 1,5 kilometre (0,9 miles) until the vehicle overturned. After Van der Merwe was dead, the attackers fled with some food, money, a cellphone and clothes.14 In another case a farmer was pulled behind his own tractor by two attackers before being run over with a plough. His body was found in five pieces.15
On 1 June 2011, Barbara (76) and her son Etcel Wortmann (45) survived a brutal attack on their farm near Wartburg, KwaZulu-Natal when they were surprised in their home by six armed men early in the evening. The attackers reportedly asked for money. They then proceeded to assault and torture both their victims. Knobkerries and handguns were used as weapons. They were asphyxiated with plastic bags, and boiling water was poured over the victims. The attackers fled with the Wortmanns’ vehicle, a .22 rifle and a shotgun, which they took from the safe.16
On the first day of October in 2011, the Viana family of Walkerville was attacked on their smallholding south of Johannesburg. Tony (53) was hit with a golf club and a panga (machete), before he was made to open the safe. He was then held until his wife, Geraldine (42) and son, Amaro (12) came home. The three were separated into different rooms. Geraldine was raped by two of the men and then shot in the head with her husband’s gun. Tony, who had been tied up in the living room, was then shot and killed as well. The attackers then filled the bathtub with boiling water. ‘We went to the bathroom and turned on the tap,’ testified one of the attackers in court. ‘We went to fetch (Amaro) and gagged him because he was crying. We forced him into the bath face down, knowing that he would drown.’ After Amaro was dead, the attackers sliced open the stomach of the family dog. When the three attackers (all in their early twenties) were taken to their cells after testifying how they had murdered the Viana family, they could be heard laughing and joking with one another.17
On 22 October 2013, Dawid and Ralie de Villiers (both 87 years old) were murdered on their farm near Barkly East in the Eastern Cape. The attacker(s) wrote ‘666’ on the walls of the farmhouse with the blood of the victims. The number was a reference to a gang with the same name. Their disabled son, Dawie (53), was also on the scene. His eyes were gouged out and a machete was left in his throat. When Dawie’s sister arrived on the scene in the early hours of the following morning, she was under the impression that they had all been killed, but Dawie survived.18
On 20 March 2014, Christine Otto (75) was walking to her car on her way to a funeral when she was ambushed by three attackers. She was dragged inside her home and tied to the shower. The attackers grabbed the container in which her late husband’s ashes were held and strewed the ashes over her bed, saying that they knew that she was alone. They then proceeded with repeated beatings, burning her with a hot clothing iron and beating her with a piece of rope that had nails attached to it. The beating lasted for several hours, after which the attackers fled with her vehicle, firearms, a DVD player and some cash. The vehicle was later found.19
On 12 January 2015, Toon (72) and Rienie (70) Swanepoel were attacked on their farm near Bloemfontein. Two of the three attackers were 19 years old (they had therefore been born in 1996) and the other one was 25. The couple was tied to a single bed and tortured for hours. Toon was shot in the leg to prevent him from fighting back. The three men took turns to rape Rienie while her husband was forced to watch. The couple was then taken to a remote part of the farm where Toon was shot dead. After they had murdered Toon, they shot and killed Rienie as well. Her body was found lying over that of her husband.20
Just before dawn on 4 June 2015, Roger van Parys (71) was attacked by five men on a farm near Rustenburg in North West. His hands and feet were tied together and he was dragged through the house while being beaten and threatened with death. Three of his ribs were broken. Thereafter, the attackers shoved a sword down his throat. He survived the attack.21
In November 2016, Koos du Plessis (58) was attacked by six men on his farm near Viljoenskroon in the Free State. Du Plessis was tied up and insecticide was sprayed in his face. His attackers also threatened to burn him with a clothing iron and murder him. ‘Shoot me! Shoot me in the name of the Lord!’ he cried out in the early hours of the morning.22 They were unable to torture him as planned, however, when they could not get the iron to heat up. They fled with his firearms, electronic equipment, wallet and vehicle. He was severely traumatised.23
Well-known businessman Piet Els (66) and his friend, Riekie Alsemgeest (68), were attacked on a farm near Kimberley in the Northern Cape on 23 January 2018. They were overpowered by four men, who burned them with hot clothing irons. Els’s toenails were also pulled out.24 He never regained consciousness and died after 111 days in hospital.25
2017: A YEAR OF TORTURE
On 2 February 2017, Trevor Rees (79) was attacked on his farm near Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal. The attackers attempted to drive through his bedroom wall with a tractor. When their attempt failed, they broke the front door open. Rees’s arms and legs were tied behind his back with an electric cable, after which he was beaten. The attackers then started torturing him with a pair of pliers. The attackers left with the items that had been stored in Rees’s safe, only to return the following day. This time they poured Jik bleach down his throat. Rees died several days afterwards as a result of the injuries.26
On 17 February 2017, a Welsh couple who had immigrated to South Africa, Roger Solik (66) and his wife, Christine (57), were attacked on their farm near Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal shortly after they had switched off their lights. The two attackers switched on their bedroom light and demanded money and the car keys. Christine was stabbed and was bleeding excessively. Their hands and legs were then tied together and pillow cases were pulled over their heads before they were loaded in a vehicle. The attackers drove to someone’s house and sold them the TV and DVD set for R1 000 ($80). ‘We then decided to get rid of them,’ testified Xolani Brian Ndlovu (32), who pleaded guilty to the murders.27
The Soliks were driven to a bridge over the Inzinga River and thrown into the water. Christine’s body was found in the river about 45 kilometres (28 miles) from their home. She had drowned, but she had also suffered multiple other injuries. Roger’s body was found the next day. A post-mortem found that he had died of asphyxiation. ‘What facts could ever help anyone understand the emotion of knowing your parents were fished out a river; one of them broken and caught on a branch, the other bloated and eaten by crabs?’ their son, Gregory, later wrote in a statement. He continued: ‘How do you explain what it is like to bury your mother on her birthday in front of her elderly and traumatised mother, my grandmother?’ Gregory’s sister, Jessica Carelse, wrote that she can no longer admire the beauty of South Africa. ‘Every mountain I look upon all I can see are my parents’ faces as they passed along a desolate dust road to their unfathomable end.’28
In the early morning of 19 February 2017, the Irish farmer Robert Lynn (66) and his British wife, Sue Howarth (64), were attacked on their farm near Dullstroom in Mpumalanga. The men sat Lynn down on a chair in the lounge and started torturing him with a blowtorch and knives. He was burned on his feet, legs and stomach and stabbed in the stomach, hands and neck. A plastic bag was pulled over his head. He was shot in the neck and dumped in a field with the plastic bag still tied over his head. Howarth’s skull was fractured and she was towed across the gravel road. Lynn survived, but Howarth passed away shortly after the attack. The story received international coverage due to the fact that Lynn and Howarth were British nationals. Lynn said afterwards that what troubled him the most about the entire incident was that the men ‘appeared to have no real motive, other than stealing a small amount of money’.29 The story of how Lynn and Howarth were tortured and what happened following the attack is divided into little pieces, with a piece being told at the beginning of each chapter of this book.
On 10 March 2017, Nicci Simpson (64) was attacked by two men on a farm near Fochville in Gauteng. She was tortured for several hours with an electric drill and sharp objects. Late in the afternoon, a passer-by saw Simpson’s dog lying dead at the farm gate and called for help. Simpson was found lying in a pool of blood with a serious head injury, broken ribs, lacerations to her wrist, stab wounds on her arms, and puncture wounds to her feet. The farmhouse was reported to be ‘covered in blood’. She was rushed to hospital and managed to survive. Four cellphon
es, a laptop, a firearm and her vehicle had been stolen. The vehicle was found soon after the attack, deserted.30
On 6 August 2017, Herman Botha (64) from Groblersdal died during a farm attack. He was overpowered when he came back from viewing his cattle, beaten with an iron pipe and tied up in the bathroom. His wife, Meisie, their daughter-in-law, Benita, and her three children were also tied up. Herman’s son, Bernard, was severely beaten by the attackers. Herman, who had had heart surgery just a few days before the incident, presumably died of a heart attack.31
Victor Cooks (75) and his wife, Gwen (74), were attacked on their smallholding near Potchefstroom in the North West on 17 August 2017. They were stripped naked and Gwen was asked to choose whether she prefers to be raped or shot, to which she replied that she would rather be shot. They were then tortured with cooking oil and boiling water. Melted plastic was dripped over their bodies. Victor was also stabbed with a knife. The attackers eventually fled with a few hundred rands, cellphones and a revolver. Victor died in hospital. Gwen survived.32
On 19 August, Anton Smuts (62) was attacked on his farm near Kinross in Mpumalanga when he went to check on the cattle. That evening, another farmer in the area saw a fire burning on Smuts’s farm and went to investigate. Upon arrival, he discovered Smuts’s charred body, burning inside his pickup truck.33
At around 01:30 on 22 August 2017, Anton Muller (35) woke up on his smallholding near Springs in Gauteng. He walked to the kitchen, where he was overpowered by four armed men. Three of the four carried handguns with silencers. Also, three of them were not wearing balaclavas and they told Muller that they did not mind if he saw their faces, because they intended to murder him. They took Muller back to his bedroom, where they took off his clothes and tied his hands behind his back. They then plugged a clothing iron into the electrical plug and started torturing him with it. They also used a pair of pliers to torture him, while asking him for money. He was then taken through the house and beaten repeatedly with several objects. During the incident Muller prayed out loud, asking God to protect him. At 04:30, the attackers left him there, fleeing the scene with some stolen items, including electronic equipment. He survived.34