NY Times reports on a murder in South Africa, totally spins the story to miss the point

In ghastly, murderous South Africa, a 62-year-old white man had been successfully raising grapes and running a wine-making business for decades--an operation his family had run for generations.

Last December black squatters poured onto his land, pitched 100 tents and refused to leave.

Two days ago four armed men burst into his home, shot him dead and robbed the place.  His wife and a friend survived the attack.

Now watch how cleverly the leftists at the NY Times spin the story to minimize the outrageous murder, under the headline "Wine farmer in land dispute is shot dead."  "Dispute"

A South African farmer whose vineyard in the Stellenbosch wine region had been occupied by shack dwellers since last year has been shot and killed in his home, heightening tensions amid a contentious national debate over the ownership of land.

Four men entered the house of the farmer, Stefan Smit, on Sunday evening before killing him.... Mr. Smit’s home is about 30 miles east of Cape Town, in South Africa’s most famous wine region. Mr. Smit’s wife and a family friend were both present during the attack and survived, Colonel Traut said, adding that the suspects fled with personal belongings.

But it was too soon to say whether the killing was related to the dispute over land or was a random criminal act.

I see.  Yes, that makes a huge difference.  Not.

The killing of Mr. Smit, 62, a prominent white farmer whose family has grown grapes for generations, immediately drew strong reactions from groups representing white farmers and white-minority rights.

A quarter of a century after the end of apartheid, white South Africans, who make up about eight percent of the population, still dominate the economy and own the country’s most productive land.

Mr. Smit’s was the second farm killing in the Western Cape province in less than a month....

Residents of a nearby black township started moving onto Mr. Smit’s farm last year as the long-running debate over land began heating up in the months before general elections in May, in which voters elected to keep Mr. Ramaphosa in office.

In December 2017, the long-governing African National Congress, or A.N.C., endorsed the expropriation of land without compensation, although the policy has yet to become law.

Wait...doesn't that mean the communist government will be stealing the private property from (white) families who have farmed their land for generations?  Why yes, yes it does.  Good of the Times to bury this crucial fact 5 'grafs down.  This explains why the hundreds of squatters simply "moved onto" the vinyard--they knew the ruling black government wouldn't remove them, and would eventually seize the farmer's land and give it to them.

Mr. Ramaphosa, who supports the policy, has tried to reassure anxious farmers, business groups and foreign investors that it would be carried out without the kind of violent land seizures that occurred in neighboring Zimbabwe almost two decades ago, a policy that devastated its economy.

Ah, the thug president is SO considerate to "reassure" the "anxious" farmers that when the government steals their land--which, again, they've successfully farmed for generations--without paying a cent in compensation, at least the seizure won't be "violent."

Tell that to these dead farmers, asshole.

A South African farmer whose vineyard in the Stellenbosch wine region had been occupied by shack dwellers since last year has been shot and killed in his home, heightening tensions amid a contentious national debate over the ownership of land.

Would the Times refer to an armed robbery as a "debate over the ownership of property"?  Of course not.  But in this case the Times clearly supports "expropriation."  Cuz, "social justice," comrades.

“The land reform process is something we should never fear,” Mr. Ramaphosa said, urging farmers to “look at land reform in a positive way.”

Would the Times instruct readers robbed on the street to "look at this experience in a positive way"?  Of course not.  But in this case....

Last August, Mr. Smit’s farm, Louiesenhof, which borders an overcrowded black township called Kayamandi, became a battleground in the national debate.

Overnight, hundreds of township residents invaded...Mr. Smit’s vineyard and erected shacks on it.  In interviews...Mr. Smit said he...had decided to sell the occupied part to the [local city] government. 

Wonder how the execs at the Times would react if a conservative president seized their ghastly leftist newspaper without compensation.