Annette Kennealy, 51, was a critic of the government’s plans to start expropriating farms from white land-owners

A South African activist who spoke out against attacks on white farmers has been found dead.

Annette Kennealy, 51, was found with multiple wounds to the body on her land in the country’s Limpopo province, where she had been staying with an employee, police said.

They believe she was killed on either Monday night or Tuesday morning.

Ms Kennealy’s mother, Kim Labuschagne, raised the alarm after she had tried and failed to get in touch with her daughter on Tuesday.


A male relative went to the farm, where Ms Kennealy’s body was discovered lying face-down in a pool of blood.

Ms Kennealy’s body was found with multiple stab wounds (Picture: Annette Kennealy)

Police spokesman Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said Ms Kennealy was found with ‘multiple stab wounds’.



Marius Mueller, director of Afrikaner campaign group AfriForum, told Marelo Media that Ms Kennealy had been found with a number of head wounds.

She was found laying on her stomach, had wounds to her left eye and an open wound on her forehead, he said.

A hammer and an iron rod were also found next to the body, he added.

A hammer and an iron rod were also found next to Ms Kennealy’s body (Picture: Annette Kennealy)

According to another police spokesperson, Col Moatshe, a 40-year-old male suspect has been arrested and will soon appear before the Louis Trichardt Magistrate Court.

Kennealy was a very public supporter of the white Afrikaner community, a prominent farmer and a former councillor with the opposition Democratic Alliance.

She would regularly share links and stories relating to politics in South Africa and the government’s plans to start expropriating farms from white land-owners.

A DA spokesman in Limpopo paid tribute to her as news of her death spread, saying: ‘The DA asked for justice to be served on those responsible for her untimely and gruesome murder.

‘Ms Kennealy served the DA as a councillor between the years 2011 and 2014 and will be remembered for her selfless service and her commitment towards human rights.’

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While South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, has denounced violence against farmers, farming groups still accuse the party of not doing enough to stop it.

Ms Kennealy’s murder comes as the government, led by Cyril Ramaphosa, pushes ahead with plans to change South Africa’s constitution to allow land to be seized from farmers without having to compensate them.

Ramaphosa says that such a move is necessary to compensate for the ‘historical imbalance’ caused by apartheid and colonialism.

Transvaal Agricultural Union, a group representing the interests of farmers, recorded 84 farm murders in 2017. Of these, 59 victims were white farmers.

A further 15 people, including eight white farmers, were killed on farms in the first three months of 2018.

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