Information came from a review of research and from interviews conducted in April and September 2000. Results revealed that black farm workers and residents on commercial farms in South Africa had for many years experienced physical abuse, including rape and sexual harassment. However, violent crime on South Africa’s farms has recently become a high profile issue in the media and politics, mainly due to a rise in violent crime against white farm owners. The new vulnerability of a group relatively protected from crime during the era of apartheid, as well as the perceived political motivation for farm attacks, led organizations representing commercial farmers to demand that the government, led by the African National Congress and installed in 1994, take stronger action. The government implemented a rural protection plan in October 1997 and a rural safety summit in October 1998 in response to concerns about violent crime in farming areas. However, the plan has failed either to satisfy farm owners’ demands for protection or to end longstanding racial and gender discrimination in the criminal justice system. The mobilization of the security force in some areas has led to increased abuses against black farm residents in some areas. These black residents have become the targets of anti-crime initiatives that are sometimes indiscriminate. The rural protection plan needs comprehensive restructuring to account not only for the needs of the commercial farming community but also those of farm residents and those living in the former homeland areas adjacent to commercial farmland. The most pressing need is for the government to improve the quality of policing and prosecution in response to all violence on farms. Needs include additional resources and training for police and prosecutors, improved data and statistics, and a transition from military to civilian policing. Photographs and footnotes