A man had his ears hacked off in a gruesome robbery at his farm. Donovan Marx, 50, was attacked and tortured inside his farmhouse between Potchefstroom and Ventersdorp in South Africa on Wednesday (October 28).
A worker was tied up by two men who then burst into a farmhouse, shooting Mr Marx and stabbing him in the leg. The pair then held him down and mutilated his ears.
Mr Marx’s employee reportedly managed to free himself and call for help. The attackers’ threat to castrate Mr Marx was thwarted when help arrived. They fled empty-handed in Mr Marx’s car. The farm worker was not hurt, according to reports.
The farmer was taken to Mediclinic Potchefstroom hospital where his condition was described as critical but stable.
Pieter Steyn, Mr Marx’s brother-in-law, said he was shot in the shoulder and stabbed in the leg, but the family has no idea why.
Mr Steyn said his relative has not been able to speak, adding: “What happened just goes to show once again how brutal farm attacks are in South Africa, and these brutal attacks are out of control.
“The motive clearly isn’t just to steal something – it goes further than that.”
Captain Majang Skalkie, spokesperson for North West Police, said her officers were still gathering information and no arrests have been made so far, according to the Daily Mail.
Dr Corne Mulder, who leads the right-wing Freedom Front Plus party, said: “The attack on Mr Marx was exceptionally brutal and our prayers go out to him and to his loved ones.
“We repeatedly point out that farm attacks, as in this case, are frequently accompanied by extreme violence and torture and therefore cannot be dismissed as ordinary crime.
“Consequently, our party is again calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to acknowledge the reality of farm murders and attacks and commit to action that prioritises them.”
South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture, Willie Aucamp, condemned the attack. He said: “I extend my heartfelt prayers and strength to Donovan, his family and the entire agricultural community for the trauma they have endured.
“There is no place in our country for such senseless and barbaric acts and as government, we will continue to condemn rural crimes in the strongest possible terms.”
Mr Aucamp added: “Farmers and farm workers are the backbone of South Africa’s food security efforts and the endless risks to their personal safety directly place the country’s food security at risk.”
Farmers in South Africa accuse the government of turning a blind eye to crimes committed against them. US President Donald Trump claims a “white genocide” is happening in the country as farmers are targeted and land seized.
Mr Trump’s supporters have been amplifying reports of violence against South Africa’s white minority, including Elon Musk.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates on the planet, with 26,232 murders in 2024 alone. South African Police Service figures also show of the total, 44 were of those in the farming community and eight were farmers. The numbers are not broken down by race.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has long rejected claims of a white genocide in his country. He pushed back against Mr Trump’s claims during an Oval Office ambush with his US counterpart in May 2025.
He said not only are white people killed in South Africa, but black people are too, and these form the majority of deaths.
