There were already 5 farm attacks in four days before Malema’s inflammatory speech, as Gateway reported. The day after the speech, on July 30, 79-year-old farmer Theo Bekker was brutally tortured and murdered on a farm in the Grootvlei area in Mpumalanga province (formerly known as East Transvaal). He was severely beaten with a pipe before his throat was slit. The four attackers, between 16 and 19, then severely assaulted his wife, Marlinda. The attackers fled with four firearms in Marlinda’s vehicle before losing control of the vehicle and crashing. All four were arrested.
On August 1, an elderly male victim was murdered in Biesiesvlei, North West province, after the front door was broken down, according to Afriforum security spokesman Jacques Broodryk. There were 9 farm attacks and 2 murders July 22-30, Broodryk said.