Johannesburg – A Sunday World investigation has uncovered a disturbing trend: the exploitation of the "farm murder" narrative to mask cold-blooded killings orchestrated by family members and relatives seeking financial gain. These cases, often misrepresented as evidence of a "white genocide" against Afrikaner farmers, have been weaponised by right-wing groups and even influenced international relations, most notably with the US administration under Donald Trump.
The investigation reveals that at least eight white Afrikaner farmers were murdered by family members or relatives who then attempted to pass off the crimes as farm murders, feeding into the false narrative of a genocide against Afrikaner farmers. This narrative has been used by organisations and people opposed to land reform to tarnish the image of the country.
The widely reported case of Annelle de Bruin, who plotted to kill her husband so that she could inherit R50-million and make his murder look like a farm attack in the mould of the false claims of a genocide against white farmers, is not an isolated incident.
Here are some of the cases uncovered by the investigation:
- Raymond Papapavlou (Groblersdal, Mpumalanga – October 4, 2020): Farm manager Raymond Papapavlou was shot dead in his bed. Initially, his murder was touted as part of "the genocide of the minority Boer people" on social media. However, police investigations revealed that Papapavlou's wife, Simone, and her alleged lesbian lover, Patricia Ray Lee Smith, conspired with Simone's father, Shane Richard Dean Oliver (who was incarcerated for his brother’s murder), to kill Papapavlou after he refused to divorce his wife. Simone and Smith planned Papapavlou’s murder via Whatsapp. The two women and the alleged middleman, Phillip Manchidi, were arrested.
- Johan Pretorius (Nigel, Gauteng – June 20, 2019): Farmer Johan Pretorius was found hacked to death with an axe, his body badly mutilated. Initially reported as a brutal farm murder, Pretorius' friend, Adam Lukas van Staden, later confessed to the murder. Despite this, reports characterised Pretorius’ murder as a “racial hate crime”, akin to the “slow genocide, and horrors of farm murders”.
- Anelle de Bruin (Maletswai, Eastern Cape – Arrested January 2025): Anelle de Bruin was arrested for allegedly plotting to kill her 56-year-old husband, Johan, in a staged "farm attack" to inherit over R50-million. De Bruin allegedly sought the assistance of a police informant to help her find the hitmen to kill her husband and also added that they must also shoot the family dogs, as well as the tyres of her husband’s bakkie after killing him to make it look like a farm attack. De Bruin is currently out on R2 000 bail, and the case has been postponed to April 23.
- Jurgen Nel (Lowhills Farm, Mpumalanga – February 1, 2025): Sonell Joubert was arrested after the body of Jurgen Nel was discovered at Lowhills Farm in Mpumalanga with six stab wounds. Joubert, the owner of Tswale Educational Elephant Interactions, allegedly stabbed Nel in a dispute in what was initiallysaid to be a farm murder in the mould of attacks on farms. Joubert and her life partner Johann Möller were arrested. Möller is out on R80000 bail while Joubert remains in custody. The case was postponed to May 8, 2025.
- Stefan Smit (Stellenbosch, Western Cape – June 2, 2019): Stellenbosch farmer, Stefan Smit, was found dead on his kitchen floor at his Louiesenhof farmhouse. Initially believed to be another farm murder, he was killed two days after selling one of his farms, Watergang, for R45.6-million. His wife, Zurenah, as well as former policeman-turned-private investigator Derek Sait, and Sait’s brother-in-law, Steven Damon, were arrested for the murder in December 2020, months after he was shot on his farm. A police investigation also established that Zurenah also allegedly forged Smit’s will to leave the vast, estate to her and make her the executor, leaving very little going to his children from a previous marriage. The case is still on trial at the Western Cape High Court.
- Susanna Kilmister (Cromdale Farm, Mpumalanga – February 28, 2022): Jay Peters was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his 68-year-old grandmother, Susanna Kilmister, at Cromdale Farm, outside Nelspruit, where they both resided.
- Theonette Smith (Brits, North West – October 2024): Johan Smith, a mathematics primary school teacher, was arrested for murdering his 57-year-old wife, Theonette, in Brits, North West province, and dumping her body in October last year. Theonette was murdered on a farm, and her half-naked body was dumped next to a railway line in the Rashoop area outside of Brits. Smith initially reported his wife missing, claiming that she left their house, which is on one of the farms in the area, after an argument. He was arrested after police found blood in their home in what looked like someone had tried to clean the murder scene. Smith has been denied bail since his arrest.
- Tony Strydom (Louis Trichardt, Limpopo – July 2016): A mother and son were arrested in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, in 2019 for the murder of a 45-year-old Tony Strydom in what was initially believed to be a farm murder. Strydom’s wife, Rieta, and one of his sons, Hendrik, were arrested and charged with murder. Strydom was killed in July 2016, but Rieta and Hendrik were arrested in April 2019 after years of investigation.
Police records reveal that only 53 farmers were killed in South Africa in the past five years, while 101 farm dwellers were murdered over the same period. Only four farm security guards were killed while eight visitors were murdered on farms in the same period. Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said 34 farm workers were also killed over the past five years.
This is in stark contrast to the claims of a widespread "genocide" against white farmers, which have been amplified by right-wing lobby groups and international figures. Former US President Donald Trump, for instance, previously alleged that "bad things are happening [to white people] in South Africa," especially in the farming community.
Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu, while tabling crime statistics, said there was a decrease in crime rates. He said the statistics indicated that only one farm murder occurred between October and December 2024. Out of a total of 6953 reported murders, police recorded 12 farm murders, with only one victim being a farmer.
Right-wing lobby group Afriforum, which sells itself as a civil rights campaigner, however, rejected Mchunu’s statistics, arguing that the minister was either misinformed or was deliberately downplaying the scale of farm murders. Recently, a report compiled by the Rome Research Institute of South Africa stated that there were 15 farm attacks in South Africa and two farm murders in March, 39 farm attacks in January and February, with two farm murders reported.
The investigation exposes the dangerous manipulation of the farm murder narrative and the need for a more nuanced understanding of the complex issues surrounding crime and land ownership in South Africa. It also highlights the importance of accurate reporting and the dangers of allowing misinformation to fuel racial tensions and distort international perceptions of the country.
