Cops and policing forums to share resources to stop farm murders

A way from the scenes of confrontation yesterday in Senekal at an angry protest over farm killings, rural farming communities are working together with the police to take the fight to farm attackers.

The SA Police Service (Saps), organised agriculture and community policing forums are sharing personnel, expertise and resources – including helicopters and drones – in a cooperative effort to bury the mistrust between the two groups and tackle what is a national emergency.

Farmer organisations hope that a partnership with the police at operational level will go a long way to combating the lack of political will to deal with farm attacks.

Lobby group AfriForum, which has been in the forefront of local and international efforts to publicise the killings of farmers, their works and families, is cautiously optimistic after agreements were reached this week during a meeting between police Commissioner General Khehla Sitole, who was accompanied by senior officers, AgriSA and Transvaal Agricultural Union SA in Pretoria.

The plan is anchored on joint rural safety command centres, a high-level collaboration between the police and farming communities, sharing of personnel and resources, as well as recognition of community-based safety and crime prevention structures.

AfriForum’s cautious optimism follows what it says is mistrust between farming communities and government.

Ernst Roets, AfriForum’s head of policy and action, said the latest agreement with Sitole, who is responsible for the actual operations, was a sigh of relief.

“There has been a sense of mistrust, with no political will. These are two different structures; the Saps, which is responsible for operations and the political side of it, and the department of police. In 2018, President Cyril Ramaphosa in New York said there were no killings of farmers… white farmers in South Africa and, recently, the police minister said farm murders were not a priority crime. So, we say the proof is in the pudding,” he said.

Roets said there was a sense distrust and lack of political will, but they were optimistic Sitole was inclined to do something, recognising that working together to proactively stop farm attacks was the way to go. He said farming communities on the ground were organised and had formed crime prevention structures, but that these were not recognised by the police.

“The recognition of these community structures is excellent because they have resources they are prepared to avail. The problem is rural police stations are not equipped … civil society has vehicles, helicopters and drones that can be made available,” Roets said.

Tommie Esterhuyse, chairperson of AgriSA’s rural safety committee, was optimistic about the plan. He said rural safety centres would be manned by neighbourhood watches, private security firms, police and other community safety structures.

“Police will play a leading role, but the core of it is intelligence gathering, stopping farm attacks before they occur. “Attacks have escalated, hence the need for intelligence-driven and a civil society approach to the fight,” Esterhuyse said.

The meeting also agreed on the establishment of community-based mounted units.

– siphom@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.