Farm attacks escalating in S. Africa, 15 killed: civil rights group

Four more people have been murdered on a farm near Johannesburg, indicating the escalating of farm attacks in South Africa, a civil rights organisation said on Saturday.

The four victims were murdered between Wednesday and Thursday, according to AfriFourm.

A 73-year-old man, who was visiting South Africa, was also among the killed, police said, adding that no arrests have been made.

The latest deaths brought the number of people killed on South African farms this year to 15, AfriForum said.

"We see that this year has started as dramatically as 2015, with farm attacks in general," said Ian Cameron of AfriForum.

"But unfortunately, we have seen a sudden increase now. We have seen 63 attacks in the year so far and around 15 murders," he said.

Cameron accused police of being slow in responding to farm murders.

In South Africa, which has a high crime rate, farmers run a significantly higher risk to be murdered compared to the general public and the police.

Although farm attacks occur globally, farm attacks on South African soil are estimated to be 700 percent higher than in any other country in the world, according to the South African Solidarity Research Institute (SRI).

In addition, the chances of a farmer being murdered on a farm in South Africa are anything between four to six times higher than the average murder risk rate for the general population, the institute said.

The government has rejected repeated calls to declare growing farm attacks "a crime of priority." Enditem