Kill the Boer
Page 22
STRENGTHENING THE ‘BRUTAL FARMER’ STEREOTYPE
It is evident from the research that the race of the victim or perpetrator tends to be a major factor in determining the extent to which a particular incident is covered by the media. Incidents of violence where the perpetrators are white are reported much more extensively than incidents where the perpetrators are black. There is also a stark difference in the manner in which incidents where the victims are black are reported by the media. Incidents where the victims are black and the perpetrators are also black tend to be largely ignored (six mentions per incident), while incidents where the victims are black and the perpetrators are white are reported on exponentially more, with 75 mentions per incident on average.
Table 13: Media reporting and racial characteristics – summary of all incidents26
(Black-on-white include incidents where race of the perpetrator is known. According to the data verified by AfriForum, 100% of the perpetrators of farm attacks are black. Therefore it is safe to assume that where a farm attack was committed and the race of the perpetrator is not mentioned as newsworthy, that the perpetrator was black.)
It is clear from Table 13 and Figure 22 that white-on-black incidents are on average mentioned 11 times as much as incidents where the victims were either black or white, and the perpetrators were black or unknown, and 7,5 times as much as white-on-white incidents.
If the white-on-black incidents are categorised according to the type of incidents, an even clearer picture emerges, as can be seen in Table 14.
Figure 22: Media reporting and racial characteristics (Afrikaans and English media)
Table 14: Media reporting of white-on-black incidents, categorised according to the type of incident27
When reporting on incidents according to racial characteristics are categorised into those reported by the Afrikaans media and those reported by the English media, another clear discrepancy is evident.
Table 15: Media reporting and race (Afrikaans media)28
Figure 23: Media reporting and racial characteristics (Afrikaans media)29
While a double standard is still evident in the Afrikaans media, it is clear that the Afrikaans media tend to be less unbalanced than the media in general. White-on-black incidents are on average mentioned six times as much as black-on-white incidents, and about four times as much as white-on-white incidents.
Table 16: Media reporting and race (English media)30
Figure 24: Media reporting and racial characteristics (English media)31
The double standard with regard to reporting on incidents according to race is even more evident when only the English media are considered. White-on-black incidents are on average mentioned 16 times as much as black-on-white incidents.
REPORTING OF KNOWN INCIDENTS BY RACE
If the number of incidents that are known to the media is considered, it is also clear that a serious double standard exists. For the purpose of the study, it was accepted that if information on a particular incident had been published in at least one of the media outlets that formed part of the study prior to the report in question, then it should be regarded as a ‘known incident’. The question then arises what the extent is of known incidents that are covered by the media. Also on this question, it became clear that the race of the perpetrator is a major determining factor in whether a known incident will be reported.
Figure 25: Reporting of known incidents, according to race.32
It is clear from this data that known incidents where the perpetrators are white and the victims are black tend to be covered extensively, while known incidents where the perpetrators are black and the victims are white tend to be ignored. Known incidents where both the perpetrators and the victims are black also tend to be ignored by the media. On this variable, it is also evident that there appears to be a major discrepancy between the Afrikaans media and the English media, where the Afrikaans media (Netwerk24 and Maroela Media) tend to report on these incidents in a much more balanced way. It is also noteworthy that during the two years in which the study was conducted, The Mail & Guardian did not report on any farm attacks, nor on any other incident where the victims were white.33
REPORTING OF DEATHS BY RACE
There is also a clear discrepancy in the manner in which incidents of violence on farms are reported on in the media, when the number of people who were killed as well as the race of the perpetrator and victim is considered. In order to understand this, it is useful to start with the number of known incidents where people were killed, categorised according to the number of deaths:
Table 17: Number of persons killed in known incidents, according to race34
When considering the reporting of incidents where white people were murdered by black people it is clear that the number of mentions per incident tend to increase in the Afrikaans media (Maroela Media and Netwerk24) as the number of deaths increase, while the number of deaths appears to be irrelevant in the English media.
Figure 26: Average media mentions by number of deaths (white-on-black)35
Figure 27: Average media mentions by number of deaths (black-on-white)36
On the other hand, when considering black-on-white violence, it is clear that the extent of media reporting is dramatically lower, while the number of persons killed again appears to be irrelevant to the English media. Regardless of the race of the victims or perpetrators, the Afrikaans media tend to report increasingly on incidents, as the number of people killed increases. This is not evident in the English media.
With regard to black-on-black violence, the number of deaths appears to be irrelevant to all, with the exception of Netwerk24. There is also extremely low reporting of black-on-black violence.
Figure 28: Average media mentions by number of deaths (black-on-black)37
REPORTING OF RACIAL DESCRIPTIONS
There is also a major discrepancy on how the media deal with racial descriptions in incidents on farms where the perpetrators and victims are of different races. In white-on-black incidents, the race of either the perpetrator or the victim is frequently pointed out as part of the article (with a distinction again evident between English and Afrikaans media). On the other hand, where the perpetrator is black and the victim is white, the race of either of the two is never pointed out by any of the mainstream media outlets, with the exception of the The Citizen, which pointed out race in 4% of the cases. Mail & Guardian, The New Age and Netwerk24 never indicated race, and Maroela Media only indicated race in 1% of white-on-black incidents.
Figure 29: Mention of race by media outlet38
What is most concerning about Figure 29 is that the SABC – the state broadcaster – is clearly the most complicit in creating and strengthening negative stereotypes regarding white farmers. While the SABC never mentioned the race of the victim or perpetrator in cases where the victim was white and the perpetrator black, race was particularly mentioned in 43% of the incidents where the victim was black and the perpetrator white.
REPORTING OF NAMES
There is also a major discrepancy with regard to the publishing of names in white-on-black incidents, as opposed to black-on-white incidents. The name of either the victim or the perpetrator is regarded to be known if it is published in at least one of the media outlets that form part of this study. When comparing white-on-black incidents to black-on-white incidents, it is clear that the mainstream media tend to publish the names of either the victim or the perpetrator in cases of white-on-black violence, while they tend not to publish the names in cases of black-on-white violence. Figure 30 indicates the extent to which the name of either the perpetrator or the victim is not mentioned, despite the fact that it is known.
Figure 30: Names not mentioned in the media though known, according to race39
USING ILLUSTRATIONS
The discrepancy between reporting of white-on-black incidents, compared to black-on-white incidents, is also evident in the use of illustrations. Illustrations are generally used to boost the visibility of a story, to
elevate that story above others or to indicate the race of those involved. The use of an illustration with a story can also be an indication that the editorial team may regard that story as more important than those without illustrations.
Also on the use of illustrations, we find that the Afrikaans media tend to be more balanced than the English media and that incidents of white-on-black violence are accompanied by illustrations substantially more than black-on-white violence.
Figure 31: Media illustrations of victim or perpetrator, according to race40
COMPARING FARM MURDERS TO OTHER INCIDENTS
It has been pointed out repeatedly that there is a discrepancy in the manner in which the South African media report on incidents of violence in rural areas, particularly with regard to the race of the perpetrators and the victims. It has been stated that a total of 105 out of at least 148 farm murders have been reported. The double standard is particularly evident when the extent of media reporting on farm murders is compared to that on other incidents.
Table 18: Comparing media coverage per incident41
In the English media, the number of media mentions of the Coligny case, the coffin assault and the Parys incidents combined are more than double the combined number of media mentions for at least 148 farm murders that took place during the years of 2016 and 2017.
DEPICTING VICTIMS AS PERPETRATORS
The Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels famously said that a lie told once remains a lie, but that a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth. There is little dispute over the claim that narratives carry more weight than realities and facts. Earlier studies have shown that there is a clear ‘white perpetrator/black victim’ narrative in South Africa. The report Revealing Race: An analysis of the coverage of race and xenophobia in the South African print media reveals that there is a predominantly ‘black victim/white perpetrator’ narrative in South African media.42 It found that:
Blacks consistently appear in the role of victim both of the crime committed against them and the unjust manner in which the justice system hears their cases. The media tends to represent the justice system as serving the interests of the rich and usually White people who can afford the best legal representation.
Upon analysis of all the news articles monitored for the purpose of the report by the Media Monitoring Project, a list of the propositions that were most prevalent on the topic of race was compiled. This list was compiled from a list of six of South Africa’s largest daily newspapers, six of South Africa’s largest weekend papers and one particularly influential weekly paper. All the articles that dealt with race and racial discrimination for the period from February 2006 up to and including May 2006 were monitored. It was found that the proposition that ‘all whites are racist’ was most prevalent, followed by ‘Africans are victims’ and ‘race is the primary explanation’.
Figure 32: Most prevalent propositions on race in the South African media43
There are also very particular stereotypes and narratives with regard to white South African farmers. White farmers are frequently depicted as thieves and criminals and they are regularly accused of abusing others (particularly their workers) and of inflicting violence upon black people.
While the available evidence clearly indicates that the above-mentioned narrative is largely fabricated and limited only to isolated cases, it appears that the stereotype is actively promoted by the mainstream media.
It is clear that the newsworthiness of an incident on a farm is not linked to the severity of the incident, but rather to the race of the perpetrator and victim – where more weight is attached to the race of the perpetrator. This is less evident in the Afrikaans media (which serve a minority of people in South Africa) than in the English media. There is minimal reporting by the media of incidents on farms where the perpetrators are not white, even when four people are murdered during one incident.
Besides this overarching inconsistency, there are also other ways in which the media report discrepantly on incidents of violence on farms, depending on who the perpetrator and the victim are. These include the mentioning of the names of the perpetrator and/or victim, the mentioning of race and the use of illustrations.
There is a clear and consistent double standard with regard to the reporting of incidents of violence on farms, especially with regard to the English media.
As to the reasons for these double standards, one can postulate a range of conspiracies. It is not my job to indulge in conspiracy theories, and AfriForum is particular about the use of fact-based research for its conclusions. It is, however, understandable that the requirement for sensation is a reality for the financial success of a news outlet. Sensation is not generated by the ordinary, but rather by the exceptional. This leads to an uncomfortable relationship with the truth in which the rarer, more unusual occurrence generates the most coverage, specifically due to its relative rarity, which, in turn, raises the question of the media’s role in exemplifying the exceptional into a false status of generality.
There can be no doubt that the skewed reporting of farm incidents will create and further fuel misconceptions about farm attacks and negative stereotypes about white farmers in particular. The result is increased vilification of farmers and a diversion away from black victims of farm attacks.
This negative stereotype may even contribute to a political climate in which discrimination against white people in general, and white farmers in particular, is regarded as justified, in which political activists engage in hate speech against white farmers, and where perpetrators who may be susceptible to committing farm murders may find the justification that they were looking for.
In this sense, as long as the double standard persists, those who participate in it should be regarded as potentially complicit in the alarming phenomenon of farm attacks and farm murders in South Africa.
ANC members hanging and crucifying white dolls at a protest rally. These depictions were very poorly covered by the media who were present when it happened.
Photo: Gallo Images/Beeld/ Felix Dlangamandla
Cartoonist Jerm responded to the scewed reporting of the Black Monday protests by media.
Illustration: Jerm
PART 3
FIGHTING BACK
‘They took us on the Burgersfort road. They argued along the way. But I couldn’t make out what they were saying, as I didn’t understand the language.’ Suddenly the vehicle stopped. ‘They took me through the veld, through a barbed-wire fence, maybe another 50 metres. The godfather then forced me on my knees.’
CHAPTER 17
How farm attacks were dropped from the agenda
Contrary to what many people believe today, farm murders were in fact at one stage regarded as a national priority by the current/post-1994/ANC South African government. Various initiatives were implemented to curb this phenomenon. However, before these initiatives could make a significant impact, the South African government embarked on a process of deprioritising its response to farm attacks.
It has been pointed out in this book (see Chapters 3 and 10) that farm attacks really became a problem in 1990 – the year in which the prohibition on the African National Congress (ANC) and other communist-aligned organisations was rescinded, effectively signalling the end of apartheid and the white minority government. Most of the political activity from February 1990 to April 1994 was consumed by the negotiations for a new political dispensation and the national elections of 1994, followed by the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as President and the establishment of a new government. The first significant initiative to address the crisis of farm attacks came in 1996 with the National Crime Prevention Strategy.
1996: NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION STRATEGY (NCPS)
In May 1996, the National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) was launched in reaction to high levels of crime in South Africa.1 The objectives of the NCPS included:
The establishment of a comprehensive policy framework that addresses all the policy areas that impact on crime as part of a great
er initiative to improve economic growth and development; and
The generating of a shared understanding among South Africans about what crime prevention involves.2
‘To effectively reduce crime, it is necessary to transform and reorganise government and facilitate real community participation. We need to weave a new social fabric, robust enough to withstand the stresses of rapid change in a new-born society,’ it was stated in the NCPS.3
Within about five years after the launch of the NCPS, it had become clear that the NCPS had failed, despite it being regarded as an excellent strategy. Johan Burger of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) mentions two reasons for the failure of the NCPS, namely:
A lack of understanding of and insight into the intricate relationship between crime and its underlying causes (socio-economic and other risk factors) by political leaders; and
Other principles and ‘as a result, a lack of conviction, commitment and support to implement the NCPS’.4
1997: THE RURAL PROTECTION PLAN (RPP)
Since the coming to power of the ANC, there has been a gradual increase in farm murders – from 59 in 1994 to 74 in 1997.5 The RPP was implemented in October 1997 as government’s reaction to calls by the South African Agricultural Union (SAAU), now Agri SA, that ‘something needs to be done to address the increases in violent crime on farms and smallholdings’.6 It was developed by a task team comprising members of the South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and organised agriculture. The main plan of the RPP was to integrate and coordinate the activities of all the role players and to ensure effective cooperation in joint planning, action and the combating of crime in rural areas.7 It was structured mostly around the commando system and it was based on two pillars, namely: