Farm Murders And Genocide Mocked By Some South Africans While South Africa Records Fifth Straight Year In Farm Murder Increase
Tensions are running high in South Africa on the issue of farm murders, as four farmers in Parys were taken into custody for allegedly beating to death two farm workers who had attacked a 72-year-old farmer. Although the four men claim that the men attacked and pistol whipped the farmer, police say it was dispute over wages and the farmers in custody took the law into their own hands.
Even with tensions high in South Africa over race relations, some comedians are pushing the boundaries in the race debate by telling jokes about it. According to Sowetan Live, no person is untouchable and no subject is taboo. Daniel Friedman, a white South African comedian who goes by the name Deep Fried Man, pokes fun at the idea that after the death of Nelson Mandela, whites became fair game for white genocide. Accompanied by his acoustic guitar, he sang the following.
“Forget the rhino — save the whites. The second (that) Mandela died — it’s the white genocide.”
President Jacob Zuma is frequently the butt of many jokes and has been made fun of for everything from his stumbling over numbers because of the millions he spent on upgrades to his home to an accusation of rape, a charge that was later dismissed. Under the South African Constitution, comedians enjoy unfettered free speech. Although it may make the subject of their jokes uncomfortable or angry, comedians are free to joke about politicians in a continent where most comedians are wary of mocking politicians.
Top story: South Africans Mock Farm Murders (White Genocide) https://t.co/UPgesfmW71, see more https://t.co/OwqwuOKBJY
— Hans Gruen (@HansGruen) January 4, 2016
As previously reported in Inquisitr, farm murders are up for the fifth straight year in a row while farm attacks are down. In 2015, 62 farm murders were reported while there were 270 farm attacks. In 2014, there were 61 farm murders and 279 farm attacks.
The South African government has yet to do anything to stop farm murders; although, some groups like Afriforum, have called on the government to make stopping farm murders a priority. Farming in South Africa is currently the most dangerous occupation in the world. At least 3,000 farmers have been murdered since the African National Congress took over the government in 1994 after the dissolution of apartheid.
According to the Times Live, a trailblazer in telling racially-charged jokes is South African comedian Trevor Noah. Noah, who rose to international heights after replacing U.S. host Jon Stewart, is the son of a black South African mother and a white Swiss father. Since Noah is biracial, it seems to give him dispensation to make fun of both sides.
Sifiso Nelson, 34, a black comedian, made fun of how South African children are raised.
“It’s hard being a black person in South Africa because it takes the entire village to raise one child, whereas for white people it only takes Mavis (the black maid), that’s all it takes! I am one of those kids who was raised by the village while my mother raised white kids.”
Local promoter Takunda Bimha said that comedy is a pain reliever.
“Comedy comes from pain and because of that people need an outlet.”
White farm murders in S Africa: Stop White Genocide https://t.co/BZ23Eag9jY.@N_ata6ha
— Robert Freeman (@RobertWildiris) January 2, 2016
With at least 70,000 whites murdered since the end of apartheid in 1994, and the 3,000 farm murders in a country of 48 million, where only four million are white, South Africa definitely has a problem. Many South Africans refuse to accept that South Africa is the rape and murder capital of the world.
What do you think? Are race relations a fair topic for comedy in wake of the farm murders in South Africa? Are farmers under attack because of their race?
[Photo via Pixabay]
