GRAAFF-REINET NEWS — "The 50% increase in Eastern Cape farm attacks in the 2017/2018 financial year, compared with the 2016/2017 financial year, highlights the vulnerability of our rural communities as well as the urgent need for innovative law enforcement strategies to safeguard the rural heartlands of our province."
This is according to the DA's Bobby Stevenson, MPL, who issued a statement concerning the alarming rise in farm attacks in the last financial year earlier this week.
In the 2016/2017 financial year there were 26 farm attacks, and in the 2017/2018 financial year, there were 39 attacks. This information was provided to Stevenson in the Provincial Legislature on 18 April.
The Democratic Alliance believes that the country needs a separate specialised unit of the SAPS, namely a National Rural Safety Unit, along with provincial rural intelligence centres and rapid response units.
They believe that the introduction of a specialised safety unit would greatly assist in improving the security in rural areas, as at present the policing in these areas is often understaffed and under-resourced.
The DA would like to see the SAPS having better resources in terms of helicopters as well as the appropriate vehicles such as 4x4s and quad bikes. Modern technology such as drones can assist with patrolling vast areas efficiently and the safeguarding of rural communities. Crime intelligence needs to be improved as well.
A key aspect of farm attacks that needs to be fully investigated is the theft of firearms as this appears to be a key motive. Stevenson has promised to ask follow-up questions in the Legislature with regard to the recovery rate and the extent to which these stolen firearms are used in other crimes.
He concludes by saying "Our rural communities are critical for food security and their safety needs to be better prioritized so that our rural economies can flourish".
Thankfully, there have been no attacks in this area since the murder of Schalk Featherstone near Aberdeen in December 2015.
Many farmers have taken elaborate security measures, with access-controlled roads, regular communications check-ins, and other methods which for obvious reasons they do not want to make public.
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