Attackers chanted ‘Kill the boer’ before stabbing woman with spear

A farming couple from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, were severely assaulted on their farm while their attackers allegedly shouted: “Kill the Boer, kill the Farmer”. Four attackers forced their way into Tim and Amanda Platt’s farmhouse, during the early hours of 17 August 2023. The attackers gained entry to the house by breaking down the front door and security gate, as well as a window and burglar bars. Amanda says:

“I shouted, ‘just go!’ and he leaned over the door grabbing me… hitting me on the arm with some object then he pulled me so hard while shouting ‘Kill the Boer, kill the Farmer’! I managed to loosen his grip and got away and ran to set the alarm off again but in vain! They were ruthless and persistent – nothing deterred them, not even the alarm nor the fact we were fighting back.”

Amanda was beaten with a bolt cutter and lead pipes, and eventually stabbed with a spear. While her husband was still trying to fight off the attackers, she managed to escape and returned armed to save her husband. Upon her return, the attackers had already fled.

Thanks to the swift response of the local farming community and civilian safety structures, six suspects, including the getaway drivers, were apprehended.

“The chanting of ‘Kill the Boer, kill the Farmer’ is nothing else but the incitement of violence against a minority group. I can only assume that those who try to tell us that the song is just a metaphor, actually support these attacks,” says Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s spokesperson for Community Safety.

“AfriForum has 168 neighbourhood- and farm watches countrywide with roughly 11 000 trained volunteers. We will continue to expand these safety networks and continue to train more volunteers to fight back against this scourge of cowardice attacks. I applaud Mrs Platt for her bravery,” says Broodryk.

AfriForum will appear in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on 4 September to appeal the Equality Court’s decision that the “Kill the Boer” chant is not hate speech.

“As the evidence keeps mounting that chants like ‘Kill the Boer’ in fact have horrific real-world effects, it becomes increasingly difficult for those excusing it to not appear apathetic to violent crime victims when they happen to be farmers,” says Ernst Van Zyl, Campaign Officer for Strategy and Content at AfriForum.