The myth of white genocide in South Africa continues to be sustained by false information. In this case, the Economic Freedom Fighters political party is blamed for an attack on a gay man on a different continent.
MARY ALEXANDER • 7 FEBRUARY 2024
Warning: This report fact-checks a violent and distressing video.
A shocking video of two men whipping and clubbing a third man – bruised and bloody, crouched in the dirt and naked except for his grey underwear – is circulating online with the claim it was filmed in South Africa.*
A common caption reads: “South Africa – More disturbing footage from the racist pro Hamas country as we see a white farmer being viciously assaulted with weapons by savages linked to Julius Malema´s EFF.”
EFF is the Economic Freedom Fighters, a political party led by Julius Malema. South Africa is set to hold elections in 2024. The claim first appeared on social media in early January.
Hamas controls the Gaza Strip in the Middle East, a part of Palestine mostly bordered by Israel. The war between the two, raging since Hamas’s deadly 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, had by 5 February 2024 killed a reported 27,478 Palestinians in Gaza and more than 1,400 Israelis in both territories.
In late December 2023 South Africa took to the International Court of Justice to charge Israel with genocide for its conduct of the war inside Gaza. This has led to counter-accusations on social media that there is an ongoing genocide of white people in South Africa.
The myth of white genocide in South Africa – particularly of white farmers – has been repeatedly debunked over many years.
The video’s other captions include:
- This year general elections will be held in South Africa and the fate of 4.8 million of white citizens will be sealed. Let’s hope they choose wisely.
- This is what they are doing to White Farmers in South Africa.
- A Boer farmer in South Africa is being attacked by black South Africans. White farmers face daily attacks, but the media doesn’t cover it. #SouthAfrica #Apartheid #Genocide
- A South African Boer farmer being beaten by black South Africans. The white farmers are being targeted daily with no media coverage.
The claim can also be seen here, here and here.
But the video shows a real hate crime, filmed four years ago on a different continent.
Suspect charged with Brazil’s crime of homophobia in 2020
Africa Check googled phrases from the video’s captions, such as “boer farmer attacked by black South Africans”, with the results limited to January 2024.
This led us to comments on a tweet from the X/Twitter account @Migrants5O73250. The account appears to have repeated the claim, but has been suspended for violating the X Rules.
But the comments remain. One reads: “And that white farmer (who is actually a professor) was beaten by South Africans in Brazil where he lives? Cause his aggressor was sentenced in Brazil and it happened in Brazil. Almost as if you were lying.”
And that white farmer (who is actually a professor) was beaten by South Africans in Brazil where he lives?
Cause his aggressor was sentenced in Brazil and it happened in Brazil.
Almost as if you were lying. https://t.co/MCP1XIANto
— The G (@NotVanVeen) January 19, 2024
It links to a Brazilian news article dated 18 February 2020. A machine translation of the Portuguese headline reads: “After being recorded performing oral sex in a public square, a teacher is brutally beaten in Serra Branca.”
Serra Branca is a city in Paraíba, a northeastern state in the South American country of Brazil.
Photos in the article show the victim after he was rescued by police. His appearance, bruising and wounds, as well as his grey underwear and the dirt he lies in, all indicate he is the man assaulted in the viral video.
He was also interviewed from his hospital bed in a news segment uploaded on YouTube. It clearly shows the same man.
The victim said four people were involved in the attack. One suspect was arrested and charged with the crimes of torture, bodily harm and homophobia.
Homophobia – specifically violence against LGBTQ+ people because of their sexual orientation – is a crime in Brazil.
The attack was widely reported by Brazilian media in February 2020, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
All evidence points to the attack being in Brazil in 2020, not in South Africa in 2024.
And despite what some captions claim about the media, if the video did show an assault on a white farmer in South Africa it would have been front page news. But there have been no credible reports of such an attack.
* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.
Published by Africa Check on 13 February 2024