A short list of attacks, but the brutality stands out.

• 75-year-old Francis Davidson was “assaulted, tortured, burnt with a liquid and stabbed with knife” at a farm in Maclear in Eastern Cape province, South Africa.

Reports say the torture continued for hours, from afternoon until the following morning.

He was assaulted, tortured, burnt with a liquid and stabbed with knife.

The torture continued from the afternoon until the next morning, 27 April 2023.

He was left injured, confused and traumatised.

The house was ransacked and his bakkie [i. e., pickup truck] stolen. The bakkie was later found burned out in Transkei.

There is no other information available at this stage.

Francis Davidson (75) 

[Farm attack, farmer tortured, brutalised for hours, Maclear, attributed to Oorgrens veiligheid, southafricatoday.net, April 28, 2023]

• A 39-year-old farmer was robbed at gunpoint in Naboomspruit, Limpopo province.

Reports say the man was sleeping in his van when wakened by barking dogs. He was confronted by armed individuals who bound him before taking items from the van. Taken were a spade, hammer, diesel, solar panels, and tools.

[Farm attack, farmer assaulted, tied up with wire, Naboomspruit, attributed to South African Police Service, southafricatoday.net, April 24, 2023]

• Paul Botha, 42, his daughter, 14, and grandmother, 84, were victims of a home invasion at their farmhouse in Louis Trichardt, in the Limpopo province.

Three attackers gained entrance to the home during night hours, and kicked open Botha’s bedroom door. The victim managed to fight attackers, who were wielding a spade, in spite of losing blood.

The attackers fled after Botha’s brother and neighbor were alerted by the noise and fired a gunshot.

[Farm attack, man injured fighting off attackers, defending family, Louis Trichardt, attributed to Oorgrens veiligheid, southafricatoday.net, April 8, 2023]

• André Scholtz, 76, died of suffocation during a farm attack in Christiana, Free State province.

The victim was found by a neighbor after attempts to contact him by family members failed.

Reports say Scholtz suffered a head wound and a rag tied into his mouth.  An autopsy revealed that he suffocated to death. “Safes were found open and a rifle and handgun, money and two cellphones were taken,” a report said.

[Farm murder, man (76) assaulted, suffocated to death, Christiana, attributed to Crime Correspondent, southafricatoday.net, April 6, 2023]