Attacked farmer: don’t make this a race thing
Charles was beaten on his cheese and wine estate by six thugs - his reaction to the attack may surprise you
FAINT bruising under his left eye is the only outward sign of his recent ordeal – and it’s remarkable considering the shape he was in just a few weeks ago. Charles Back (61), owner of Fairview cheese and wine estate near Cape Town, posted a picture of himself on social media looking battered and bruised the day after he was attacked by six men in the dead of night.
The post soon went viral but it wasn’t the brutal attack that got people talking: it was what he wrote along with the picture.
His message didn’t involve hatred or blame. He simply wanted people to know the assault wasn’t politically motivated and that he still believed in this country.
“The attack was physically and emotionally painful,” he wrote in the post, which had soon been read by 1,5 million people.
“My escape was nothing short of miraculous and I feel like I’ve come back from the dead. I’m so grateful to be alive, and my heart goes out to all the people who have lost their family members in the ongoing farm attacks.
“I want it to be known that this attack was not politically divisive in any way, but that these were just three common gangsters motivated by their own selfinterests. I believe in the values that this country was built on, and continue to hope for harmony and peace. I’m now doubly motivated to come in to work every day, and will continue to ensure that I can contribute and try to make even the smallest difference in my community.”
Chatting to us now at the Goatshed restaurant at Fairview, Charles says it was important for him to return to work immediately for several reasons.
“First – touch wood – never in the 40 years I’ve been working have I taken a day off sick.
“The second thing is because I work with a group of millennials. We’re always teasing each other because they’ll sneeze and then stay home,” he says, laughing.
“But I think the most important thing was to send a message to the 600 people I work with to show them I’m all right and my spirit is the same.
“And it was also important to do it for myself, so that I could know this thing hadn’t broken me. I got immense support and that’s given me resilience.”
He thinks back to that night again. “It worries me that everything in SA always becomes a race issue. This thing that happened to me has nothing to do with race. You also can’t call it farm violence.
“Violence happens in townships, in Constantia, in Houghton and Sandton. But when it happens on a farm it’s immediately given a higher status because of political friction and polarisation. This didn’t happen because I’m white. It’s because I’m living alone on a remote farm and I relaxed my security measures.”
‘This thing that happened to me has nothing to do with race’
CHARLES was fast asleep when he woke to find armed robbers standing over him. He was beaten with a crowbar, tied up, rolled in a carpet and left for dead while his attackers ransacked his home.
He needed 70 stitches to wounds on his head and an operation to fix his shattered eye-socket bone.
He also suffered cracked ribs and was covered in bruises.
“I’m still having a bit of trouble with the eye. It looked like a Greek restaurant when they smash the plates.” He touches his eye gingerly. “I can see through it, but not that well yet.”
His wife, Diane, had spent the night of the attack with their son in Cape Town and because she usually sets the alarm, he’d forgotten to do it. The six men broke in and made their way to Charles’ room.
He fought back hard but lost consciousness when struck on the temple.
When he came to in the rolled-up carpet, his wrists and ankles had been tied together with a shredded mosquito net.
“I heard them move about the house and thought I was dying,” he recalls. “It’s a strange feeling. I’d kind of made peace with it and I wasn’t scared. I passed out again but when I woke up again after a while I realised I wasn’t going to let them kill me like that.”
He managed to get out the carpet and slide under the bed. He moved to the other side of the bed and escaped through a nearby door.
Hopping around outside on bound feet, he accidentally fell into a ditch.
“When I fell in I laughed at myself. Because can you believe it? I managed to escape, only to fall into a ditch. ‘How can two things go so terribly wrong in one night?’ I thought.”
CCTV footage later showed his attackers had walked right past him in that moment. “They hadn’t known about me and I hadn’t known about them.”
Charles eventually managed to free his feet and ran to his car which, fortunately for him, had a key in the ignition.
When he sped away he passed his attackers, who scattered.
FAIRVIEW is a hub of activity as usual. The farm, which is well known for cheese-and-wine tastings, attracts about half a million tourists a year.
Acquired by his grandfather Charles Back Snr in 1936, the farm is close to Charles’ heart. He was born and has lived here his whole life.
Charles Snr arrived in Cape Town from Lithuania when he was 19 years old. After working on the docks for a while he opened a butchery at the Paarl train station.
In 1917 he bought his first farm, Backsberg. Fairview was bought 20 years later.
It was Charles’ grandfather and his dad, Cyril, who taught him the values of respect and integrity.
“They’re the building blocks of anything. For my dad a handshake was enough to seal a deal. You didn’t need a contract.”
It wasn’t only business savvy that Cyril passed on. “He taught me how to estimate. How much is this, how much is that?
“How many vines are in this row? How many people are seated in the restaurant?”
Today Charles, who was voted farmer of the year last year by Agricultural Writers SA, owns three restaurants and 12 farms.
He makes his own wine, beer, cheese and bread and owns a meat business. He also has a graphic design studio and an online business that delivers ingredients for dishes to cook at home.
Clearly there’s no time for idleness at Fairview and that’s probably why Charles is frustrated about needing another eye operation.
“For me it’s about wasted time and the doctors could have used that time better by removing 20 cataracts from people in the townships.”
Then his thoughts turn back to the night of the attack and the big public reaction it received.
“Six people attacked me and 1,5 million people read what I’d written and how I reacted to it. You need to balance the great majority of good people against the evil.
“I think we’re still okay.”