Donovan Marx's recovery symbolises farmers' resilience
On behalf of the thousands of family farmers represented by Saai, we welcome Donovan Marx's discharge from hospital. Farmers are relieved and delighted by his swift recovery and wish him continued healing and prosperity, both in recovering from his injuries and in his farming operations.
An incident such as the attack on Donovan has consequences that extend far beyond the trauma experienced by the victim, his immediate family, relatives and farmworkers. The entire community is left traumatised, angry and anxious. Every farmer identifies with the plight of the victim, knowing that no one is immune to such attacks and that any farmer could become a victim at any time.
This awareness lies at the heart of the growing tension between the farming community and the ANC over the severity of farm attacks, as well as the increasing internationalisation of the crisis. While the ANC's attitude towards this horrific phenomenon ranges from outright denial – as illustrated by President Cyril Ramaphosa's statement at the United Nations in New York in 2018, “There are no killings of farmers or white farmers in South Africa” – to attempts to dismiss the torture, mutilation and murder of entire families as merely “ordinary crime”, the United States is making funding available for research and trauma counselling.
Against the backdrop of the Constitutional Court's refusal to hear farmers' case concerning incitement through slogans such as “Kill the farmer, kill the Boer”, and the absence of political will to classify farm attacks as a priority crime, incidents such as the attack on Donovan Marx make it increasingly impossible for the farming community and the ANC to find common ground.
Donovan Marx's survival of this horrific ordeal, his swift recovery and the courageous smile he displayed upon his discharge from hospital serve as an inspiring symbol of the resilience, determination and grace that sustain farmers on their land, despite the existential threats they face.
