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South Africans chant 'hero, hero' outside the court in Ventersdorp on 6th April as police escort one of the two men charged with the murder of white supremacist Eugene Terre'Blanche. (AFP/File/Alexander Joe)
Terre'Blanche, the founder of the white separatist Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB), was hacked to death Saturday on his farm outside the town of Ventersdorp, allegedly by two black workers upset over his refusal to pay their monthly wages of 300 rands (41 dollars, 31 euros).
The killing has focused attention on farm murders, a common occurrence in South Africa, and the larger issues of poverty and racial inequality surrounding the country's pattern of land ownership, still skewed in favour of whites even after the introduction of multi-racial democracy in 1994.
"The reported circumstances of (Terre'Blanche's) murder speak volumes about the appalling state of labour relations on farms," the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the country's largest labour group, in a statement on the killing.
"While (these) alleged violent actions cannot be excused, they illustrate the depth of many farm workers’ frustration at their deplorable working conditions."
COSATU said most farm labourers work for less than minimum wage in conditions it described as "feudal".
White farm owners in South Africa number about 30,000, according to the South African Institute of Race Relations -- down from twice that number 10 years ago, but still 75 percent of the national total.
The murder rate for white farmers is about five times higher than the national figure, according to figures compiled by the institute.
A conservative estimate puts the number of white farmers killed since 1994 at 1,000, out of an estimated 40,000 commercial farmers nationwide, said Frans Cronje, the institute's deputy chief executive.
On the other hand, "more than (a) hundred of farm workers and their families are brutally assaulted and killed almost every month," COSATU said.
Employer-employee farm violence works both ways. On Tuesday, a 42-year-old farmer attacked seven employees with an iron rod, accusing them of laziness, the Star newspaper reported.
In 2007, a white farmer was convicted of killing a Zimbabwean worker, saying he mistook the black man for a baboon. In 2005, farmer Mark Scott-Crossley was convicted of beating a black worker and throwing him into a lion enclosure, where he was devoured.
Jerry Mosounyane, 38, a court interpreter who lives in Tshing township at the edge of Ventersdorp, said inequality is an issue on area farms.
"It's unequal here, especially on the farms. What created this death, actually, it is the wages. He refused to pay these guys," Mosounyane told AFP.
Outside the courthouse where the two workers were charged with murder Tuesday, Shoes Nsibande, a 24-year-old Johannesburg resident, said South Africa should use the killing to examine the larger issues of poverty and worker exploitation.
"When we deal with the ultimate conclusion of how Mr Eugene was killed, we must also look at, is it correct to pay somebody 300 rands a month?" Nsibande told AFP.
He pointed to the large crowd of black people gathered outside the courthouse, separated from Terre'Blanche's supporters by a razor-wire fence put up by police.
"I'm sure that all of these people are workers. None of them own a farm or a shop. And that's an anomaly if you consider what is enshrined in the constitution," he said.
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The killing has focused attention on farm murders, a common occurrence in South Africa, and the larger issues of poverty and racial inequality surrounding the country's pattern of land ownership, still skewed in favour of whites even after the introduction of multi-racial democracy in 1994.
"The reported circumstances of (Terre'Blanche's) murder speak volumes about the appalling state of labour relations on farms," the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the country's largest labour group, in a statement on the killing.
"While (these) alleged violent actions cannot be excused, they illustrate the depth of many farm workers’ frustration at their deplorable working conditions."
COSATU said most farm labourers work for less than minimum wage in conditions it described as "feudal".
White farm owners in South Africa number about 30,000, according to the South African Institute of Race Relations -- down from twice that number 10 years ago, but still 75 percent of the national total.
The murder rate for white farmers is about five times higher than the national figure, according to figures compiled by the institute.
A conservative estimate puts the number of white farmers killed since 1994 at 1,000, out of an estimated 40,000 commercial farmers nationwide, said Frans Cronje, the institute's deputy chief executive.
On the other hand, "more than (a) hundred of farm workers and their families are brutally assaulted and killed almost every month," COSATU said.
Employer-employee farm violence works both ways. On Tuesday, a 42-year-old farmer attacked seven employees with an iron rod, accusing them of laziness, the Star newspaper reported.
In 2007, a white farmer was convicted of killing a Zimbabwean worker, saying he mistook the black man for a baboon. In 2005, farmer Mark Scott-Crossley was convicted of beating a black worker and throwing him into a lion enclosure, where he was devoured.
Jerry Mosounyane, 38, a court interpreter who lives in Tshing township at the edge of Ventersdorp, said inequality is an issue on area farms.
"It's unequal here, especially on the farms. What created this death, actually, it is the wages. He refused to pay these guys," Mosounyane told AFP.
Outside the courthouse where the two workers were charged with murder Tuesday, Shoes Nsibande, a 24-year-old Johannesburg resident, said South Africa should use the killing to examine the larger issues of poverty and worker exploitation.
"When we deal with the ultimate conclusion of how Mr Eugene was killed, we must also look at, is it correct to pay somebody 300 rands a month?" Nsibande told AFP.
He pointed to the large crowd of black people gathered outside the courthouse, separated from Terre'Blanche's supporters by a razor-wire fence put up by police.
"I'm sure that all of these people are workers. None of them own a farm or a shop. And that's an anomaly if you consider what is enshrined in the constitution," he said.
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