Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on 31 May 2024. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/ The Citizen
Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen says his department will devise a plan to protect farmers and farmworkers of all races.
He was speaking in his capacity as the leader of the DA during a parliamentary debate on the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Tuesday.
“In my capacity as minister of agriculture, I am announcing that we are going to work with the sector to devise a comprehensive plan to combat farm murders, stock theft and improve rural safety,” he said.
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Steenhuisen said he would collaborate with the minister of police and the justice cluster to improve farm safety measures.
“We must ensure that every South African feels safe at home and at their workplace, including our farmers and farmworkers.”
He said the dismantling of the rural safety units was a catastrophic mistake that has led to an increase in farm attacks and other crimes.
“It opened the door to the collapse of rural policing and the targeting of our farmers and farmworkers of all races by violent criminals and syndicates.”
He said he had spent some time with commercial and small-scale farmers in the Free State who complained about feeling helpless about crime.
“Cases get open but are never investigated. The farmers know who is responsible but can never secure arrest or conviction. This situation cannot go unaddressed,” he said.
Steenhuisen’s comments came after the United States (US) government cut off foreign aid to South Africa.
US President Donald Trump cited several reasons for this, including the seizure of land from certain groups of people, the targeting of Afrikaner farmers and human rights abuses and race-based policies.
Trump had also offered the Afrikaner community refugee status in the US.
Jacques Broodryk, a spokesperson for AfriForum community safety, told The Citizen on Wednesday that the organisation is pleased with the intervention to increase safety for farmers and farmworkers.
He said that over the years, organisations like AfriForum have taken it upon themselves to devise strategies for ensuring the safety of farmers.
“We have been trying for years now to get farm attacks recognised as a serious crime.
“We welcome this decision and are willing to work with the role players to ensure we fight crime, especially on farms,” he said.
Broodryk said while some farm attacks are racially motivated, some were simply spontaneous crimes.
“There are cases where we can identify a political or racial agenda. However, we cannot always ascribe it to one agenda. Some are just criminally motivated and not motivated by hate,” he said.
Broodryk refused to comment on the tensions between South Africa and the US concerning alleged attacks on Afrikaner farmers.
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