Howard Barrell
Leaders of agriculture and business joined forces to fight worsening crime this week – and to persuade desperate farmers and businessmen not to resort to unlawful protests against the government’s seeming inability to get to grips with the problem.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to prevent our members taking the law into their own hands,” said a business leader. “We are talking about a real crisis.” Farming leaders echoed his fears.
Security officials from the South African Agricultural Union (SAAU) and the South African Council of Business (Sacob)set up a permanent joint working committee on security at a meeting in Pretoria on Wednesday. The meeting was called by Sacob.
The committee holds its first meeting in the next 10 days. It is expected to include the presidents of Sacob and the SAAU among its members.
The move by organised agriculture and business reflects the view that the government has not grasped the seriousness of the crime situation and does not understand the depth of the emotions being kindled among exasperated farmers and businesspeople.
Some 94 farmers have been murdered since the beginning of the year, and 554 since the government came to power in April 1994.
Some farmers in KwaZulu-Natal and the far north of the country are threatening to withold the payment of taxes until the government demonstrates that security forces can uphold law and order in their areas. They are setting up trusts and other financial instruments to hold the diverted funds.
Over the past fortnight, General Constand Viljoen, leader of the Freedom Front and former head of the South African Defence Force, has delivered detailed plans to both the government and the SAAU on how to improve security on farms.
His suggestions include legal changes which would close many rural roads to the general public, create designated “reception areas” on all farms to which visitors would be obliged to report and give farmers powers to arrest any stranger found on any other part of their farms without permission.
The Sacob/SAAU joint security committee will be concerned with developing strategies against all crime, not only the murder of farmers, according to Brian Adams, Sacob’s security representative.
“We agreed we would not support any calls for unlawful activities by our constituencies,” he said on Thursday. “We will be looking at specific strategies. We want to be constructive and responsible.”
Adams said the working committee wants “a major attitude change among senior politicians about the crime situation”, better resourcing of the police and more accountability from the police on how they use existing resources.
It is vital that criminals come to feel that they will be caught and punished, he added.
A regional agricultural leader said farmers – black and white, big and small – are “puzzled” at the lack of urgency in the government about taking on worsening crime.
“If the government declared a state of emergency to fight crime – and they can do it comfortably as a democratic government – they would have the support of 98% of South Africans. I can guarantee that,” he said, on condition of anonymity.