In the light of the umpteenth farm murder this year – the latest was the violent bludgeoning of Trompsburg farming couple Johan and Cecile Fourie – an earlier call by civil rights body AfriForum for the public to join a campaign to push the government to declare farm murders a priority crime, should be supported by all citizens, no matter their race or creed.
AfriForum has already submitted a memorandum to Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa asking for a special rural safety unit to be set up. Not much has come from this because public and international support has not been forthcoming. Politics should be left behind and all citizens – in SA and abroad – should take hands to support this.
President Jacob Zuma said earlier this year that farm murders should not be prioritised because they are part of the broader murder statistics. But the deputy CEO of AfriForum, Ernst Roets, has already challenged this saying the reality is that violence and murders in rural areas are disproportional to violence and murders in the rest of the country. On top of this farm murders are often characterised by brutality while farmers play a crucial role with respect to job creation and food security. “Should President Zuma’s argument about farm murders be applied across the board, then rhino poaching must be treated as any other type of poaching and violence against women and children must not be dealt with as a priority,’ said Roets.
We say South Africans abroad should support any South African at home who are serious about fighting crime by voicing their opinion at every level possible; social media and otherwise. By encouraging the international community to put pressure on the SA government to prioritise violent crimes such as farm murders, the government will get a clear message and the police should get the support they need to turn the tide.
Satistics we found on News24 that covers up to April 2012:
“Organisations within South Africa have been monitoring and reporting on farm attacks and have reported the following statistics. 1995 (1), 1997 (1), 1999 (1), 2000 (1), 2001 (2), 2002 (2), 2003 (2), 2004 (01), 2005 (1), 2006 (2), 2007 (1), 2008 (37), 2009 (465), 2010 (439), 2011 (551), 2012 to date (92). = 1599 farm attacks, 3158 people murdered.”
And on Genocide Watch:
“Independent researchers have compiled accurate statistics demonstrating convincingly that murders among White farm owners occur at a rate of 97 per 100,000 per year, compared to 31 per 100,000 per year in the entire South African population, making the murder rate of White SA farmers one of the highest murder rates in the world.”
What do you think we as South Africans can do to help stop the murders?
How can we get President Jacob Zuma to prioritise farm murders?