Farm murders; victims tell their stories - Carla van der Spuy

Farm murders  - Carla van der Spuy - Paperback in good, clean and tight condition.

Statistical analysis shows that South African farmers are three times more likely than ordinary citizens to be the victims of violent crime, and it is twice as dangerous to produce food than it is to be a policeman. Approximately two thousand farmers and farmworkers have been killed or maimed during the past two decades in South-Africa. In many instances the lives of the victims who survive will never be the same. Their quality of life is often radically diminished. Many suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder after having been brutalized- sometimes for hours on end while their close family members were forced to watch.

Yet a large percentage of farmers keep on farming. When recalling these horrific violent crimes, you see the trauma in the victims’ eyes and body language. You hear it in their voices.

In my book Farm Killings – victims tell their stories, I told the stories of ten families from farms in different parts of the country. Farm killers are cruel. Many are habitual criminals with no mercy for their victims.