OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Thursday
SAFETY and Security Minister Steve Tshwete has agreed to commission independent research into the motives behind South Africas ongoing farm attacks, which killed at least 119 people last year.
Agri SA president Japie Grobler said such an inquiry could help find ways to curb the ongoing onslaught on the farming community, which saw more than 800 farm attacks last year alone.
The minister has asked the SA Police Service to advise him on the composition of an independent research team, which might include academics and legal experts, and will also seek a special meeting with President Thabo Mbeki on these developments to inform him on the security situation on South African farms.
A research team commissioned last year by Agri SA and other agricultural bodies concluded there were strong indications that such attacks were aimed at driving farmers off their land.
The panel recommended that the government be urged to conduct an independent inquiry into the matter.
While earlier studies by the police found that rural attacks were largely driven by criminal intent, Agri SAs document emphasised “growing perceptions that revenge, intimidation and land issues rather than criminality were behind the attacks on farmers”.
According to Agri SA, Tshwete assured the union that neither he nor the government would tolerate the illegal occupation of farms. He promised police would act promptly against such transgressions.
Tshwete added the government was fully aware of the importance of the agricultural sector in the country’s economy.
Chairman of the Agri SA security committee, Kiewiet Ferreira, said the meeting with Tshwete also touched on the need for visible policing, including regular police visits to farms.
Ferreira said Tshwete promised that police would pay the necessary attention to stock theft, and more resources were being channelled to units dealing with this type of crime.