The lull before the storm?

There seems to have been a significant lull in the number of farm attacks whilst the world's cameras are focused on South Africa, it is now over three weeks since I have been notified of a fatal attack, and there have only been a limited number of non-fatal attacks, I do not recall such a long period elapsing between deaths in the last couple of years.

As, prior to the world cup, there was on average two killings a week, some may find this suspicious, and feel it could suggest that there is political direction behind the carnage.

This suspicion may be strengthened by the fact that a number of black South African policemen are currently in custody accused of involvement in farm attacks.

Abraham Sesing and Hendrik Eksteen acted to save their employer

In the latest incident a 36 year old black South African policeman has been arrested and accused of driving the get away car in an attempted farm attack in the early hours of Sunday morning, that attack targeted disabled 80 year old farmer Toby Van den Heever and was thwarted by two of his employees one black and one white (pictured above) who confronted four armed men attempting to tear down the security gate of the homestead's kitchen door.

This brings me to another issue which I have hesitated about posting, as I do not wish to cause undue alarm, however, I think it is important to report what I am hearing. There are rumours that an outbreak of racial violence is planned for after the world cup, commencing around the 12t of July. Censor Bugbear has reported on a series of xenophobic threats here and here, this mostly relates to the threats of targeted violence by South African blacks against black immigrants, similar to those which happened in 2008, however, I have also heard that threats have been made against whites as well (if anyone knows more about this please let me know).

There may be nothing to these rumours, it will not be the first time that such such stories have circulated. However, given that there will almost certainly be a lot of resentment following the lack of success by African teams in the tournament, and the growing likelihood that a predominantly white team will win, I would strongly recommend that those living in South Africa continue to take great care of their safety and that of their loved ones.

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Hat tip: Dina