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The dynamics of farm attacks are much more complicated than is usually envisaged. Although many of the farm attacks seem to be of a criminal nature and are often attributed to prevailing socio-economic conditions in especially rural areas, these attacks reveal certain trends and patterns which could point to a possible interplay of ulterior motives (NICOC 1997:9). Those who attempt to isolate a single cause for these attacks are indeed very naive in their approach while also totally underestimating the complexity of the phenomenon. Farm attacks must be studied within the total socio-political-economical interaction of the revolutionary and post-apartheid environment. Moolman (1998:59-81) identifies the following twelve possible causes for farm attacks in South Africa, i e. hatred, negative perceptions and racial relations, lost morals, a culture of violence, illegal firearms, socio-economic conditions, farmers regarded as outlaws, unfulfilled expectations, public hearings of the TRC, redistribution of land, escaping justice and revenge.
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