Man Tortured and Shot in the Back During Brutal Farm Attack Near Potchefstroom
- Donovan Marx was allegedly tortured and shot during a farm attack in North West province on 29 October 2026
- A farm worker managed to free himself after being tied up by the attackers, who fled with the victim's bakkie
- Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder condemned the attack and renewed calls for President Ramaphosa to act on farm violence
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NORTH WEST — Donovan Marx is in a critical condition at a Potchefstroom hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound to the back during a farm attack between Potchefstroom and Ventersdorp on 29 October 2026. Medical staff were still attempting to remove the bullet from his body on the morning of the attack.
The assault took place after a family member had departed the farm for work shortly before 8am. One of the farm workers on the property was restrained by the attackers, but later freed himself and raised the alarm. The suspects fled the scene in Marx's bakkie, and no other stolen items were reported at the time. A search for the perpetrators was launched, though they remained at large.
FF Plus leader condemns the attack
According to NewsDay, Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder made details of the incident public, describing it as a stark illustration of the extreme brutality often associated with farm attacks in South Africa. He argued that incidents involving torture should not be classified alongside ordinary criminal cases, and called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to formally recognise the scale of the problem and introduce targeted measures to protect farming communities.
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Mulder referenced a 2018 Bloomberg interview in which Ramaphosa dismissed claims that white farmers were being systematically killed in South Africa, using it to argue that the government had consistently downplayed the severity of the situation.
He also criticised authorities for what he characterised as a failure to act decisively against inflammatory rhetoric, specifically the chant "Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer," which he argued fosters hostility toward rural farming communities.
See X post about the incident here:
US offer of assistance reportedly ignored
Mulder further claimed that the United States had offered assistance with rural security in South Africa, but that the government had not taken up the offer. He did not provide further details on the nature or timing of the proposed assistance.
At the time of reporting, the suspects remained at large and Marx was still receiving treatment in hospital.
US Ambassador joins Afriforum in fight for rural safety
Briefly News also reported that US Ambassador Leo Bozell II paid a visit to AfriForum's offices in Pretoria on 23 September 2026, taking a close look at the organisation's neighbourhood watch and farm-watch programmes as part of a broader push to address farm murders and rural safety in South Africa. Bozell described what he saw as impressive but stressed that AfriForum could not shoulder the burden alone.
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Source: Briefly News
