Fochville resident making a difference

“In my heart, I have been an activist my whole life,” says Mr Dawid Roos from Fochville.

According to him, he realised he liked to help fight for the rights of others while working on the mines, first in the Free State and later in our area. He started representing other workers and did so well that an attorney advised and even helped him to study further in law. Roos left his legal dreams when he moved to another mine and later opened his own business, which he ran for over a decade, until the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
After a short stint working in the United States, Roos decided to take up his passion for helping others again. He soon realised the issue of farm murders was extremely close to his heart.

“These things touch you. Farm murders are a huge problem affecting all rural communities. Many people do not realise that farmers of all races are affected,” he says.

Roos started searching online and became one of a group of activists, led by Petrus Seto, whose videos he first saw on TikTok. Together with Seto and other activists from all over the country, Roos was part of the official protest, making the international community aware of farm murders at the Brics summit in Sandton in August this year. He had also been part of other big peaceful protests, among others to get Police Minister Bheki Cele to take a much firmer stance against this type of crime. “Although he made promises, nothing is being done. If we want something to change, we have to do it ourselves,” says Roos.

He is currently working on a database of farm attacks as part of an action to try and get international attention to the problem. No central data base currently exists, and activists and others working on the matter each keep their own set of information.

Residents with information that might be useful to Roos or who want to get involved in his action against farm attacks can contact him at 072 985 7510.