The South Africa Police Service (SAPS) have declared farm violence of every sort an emerging priority in the current 2016/2017 financial year after talks with AfriForum.
In March, a family of four, including a 9-year-old child, was brutally murdered on a Randfontein farm in Rodora, Doornfontein. No suspects have been arrested in connection with the case as yet.
Police term these incidents as acts of violence against people residing on, working on, or visiting farms and small holdings. It includes farm owners, farm workers and all other citizens of South Africa irrespective or race, colour creed, religion or sex. The definition includes crimes such as murder, rape, robberies, or inflicting bodily harm.
Destruction of infrastructure and property in rural communities aimed at disrupting legal farming activities as a commercial concern are also included.
Police urge the above mentioned crimes to be reported within a 24 hour period after its occurrence.
A trend has been noticed by police regarding these crimes and it was found that there has been a shift in target selection from small holding to more isolated farms. The crimes have been noticed to occur between Thursday and Saturday at night while victims are asleep.
The number of suspects at a time ranges from two to eight which are split up into two groups during most crimes. The perpetrators have been identified as mostly men comprising of foreign nationals between the ages of 20 to 35 and most of the victims they attack are over 50.
Police have had success in fighting this crime. There has been a decline in the number of reported incidents of violence on farms and small holding. The number has drop from 532 to 446 from the 2012/2011 financial year to 2015/2016.
There has also been a decline in the number of reported murders on farms and small holdings. The number of murders dropped from 80 to 49 between the 2010/2011 financial year to the 2015/2016 financial years.
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Also read:
Rodora family massacre: 4 killed
Rodora family massacre: School’s message to the family
Funeral fund for Rodora massacre victims
Rodora family massacre: Victims identified
UPDATE: Brutal family massacre condemned
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