Tangeni Amupadhi reports on the Groot Marico farmwatch system
Oom Leon du Plessis stops mending a fence on his Nooitgedacht farm in the Groot Marico to tell about the night he was robbed and almost killed.
It is almost noon and time to stop work, have a sip of mampoer and take a rest after a long morning’s work.
“I was coming from my neighbours at about 9.30pm. At the gate I realised something was wrong. One of my dogs was not around and the lights in the kitchen were on and I thought I had left them off. Let me show you where it happened,” he begins.
Du Plessis is one of many South African farmers who have been living under siege after a spate of vicious farm attacks which have left at least 80 farmers dead in more than 700 attacks this year alone. Farmers’ unions say no fewer than 500 of their members have been killed in the past five years.
Du Plessis and fellow farmers now guard each other and have christened themselves the “farmwatch”.
From the fence, the trip to his farmhouse is three minutes on a bumpy road in his tough Ford Custom, 30 years old and still going strong.
“When I got here,” he points to the back door, “I saw it was broken. I sneaked in and headed for the room where I keep the guns [he has seven]. As I opened the door, my eyes locked with those of Johannes [a farmworker]. I saw he had a gun and I tried to run away. Luckily I fell and he fired wildly, about 10 rounds.”
Du Plessis managed to escape to a neighbouring farm. Within 10 minutes the farmwatch and Marico Commando – an 1800s Boer-style paramilitary civil defence unit whose members are trained soldiers – had blocked off all roads and combed the house for suspects.
About 30 minutes after midnight, a man whom Du Plessis had recently employed was arrested by the joint operation and handed over to the police.
Du Plessis’s farmwatch is one of 30 cells covering 10 000km2 in the Groot Marico area. The bachelor, in his 50s, is head of the farmwatch.
They meet once a month to plan patrols and other security measures. All the farmers have bought two-way radios. “Many are buying cellphones because they are quicker for communications and their lines can’t be cut by the criminals,” Du Plessis says.
The farmers call each other every morning and evening, and try to see each other at least once a day. Most practice target shooting two or three times a week.
“The farmers themselves are the first line of defence,” says Wilhelm Rocher, the head of the Transvaal Agricultural Union’s security in North-West province.
“It is very important that they know how to protect themselves … within the law.”
Du Plessis and his neighbours believe the attacks are pulled off by common criminals, dismissing the notion of a political motivation to the killings.
Unsurprisingly, they do not float the less common theory that rightwingers may have masterminded some of the attacks to encourage support for their cause.
Although farmwatch groups were officially started as a joint venture among the farmers, commandos and police, there have been reports of unexplained killings of suspected robbers.
For instance, two weeks ago in Makwassie, an area neighbouring Groot Marico, farmers and commandos shot dead three suspects who reportedly pounced on Willie (69) and Elizabeth Khn (65). More than 100 farmers and commando members were mobilised in less than 30 minutes.
All roads were cut off and five suspects were arrested. No one has claimed responsibility for the three suspects shot dead during the operation. Initially police reported that they were merely “found” dead, but now say an inquest will be held.
As far as Willie Khn is concerned, farmers are right to take the law into their own hands.
“We must run after them because next time they will come back and kill us. What will you do when eight guys come to you with guns aimed at you? You must take the law into your own hands.
“Let me tell you, if there is someone to be caught, I will help catch him and if he is running away, I will shoot him.”
Herman Vercueil, the national chair for the law and order committee of the South African Agricultural Union, says some farmers have hired private security guards, working outside the law, because they feel the government is not doing enough.
Vercueil adds: “Every person in this country has to look after his own security and work with the security forces.”
Farmers in Groot Marico are convinced the farmwatch system is the best way to ensure their security. In the past year, there have been no fatalities and all suspects were handed to the police.
Rocher says of the effectiveness of farmwatches: “The criminals are in a hurry to grab what they want because they know there is a time limit.
“Actually they would rather go to areas where there is nothing going on in terms of security measures.”
Inspector JF Nel of the Swartruggens police station concurs: “Farmers react quicker. We have to travel for 45 minutes sometimes. Before we get there, the situation is under control.”