Mpumalanga Agriculture has condemned the murders of two “peace-loving farm dwellers”. The killings reportedly took place on 24 April on a farm near Nelspruit.
“We express our deepest condolences to the next of kin of the deceased,” the organisation says via a media statement. “The two persons were allegedly attacked and murdered during a robbery on the farm Valley Farm. The deceased was reportedly a mother of 56 and her mentally handicapped son in his early thirties.”
It is believed that the South African Police Service (SAPS) had already opened a case of murder and robbery.
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“Mpumalanga Agriculture welcomes the alleged response by General-Major Phahla, acting provincial commissioner of police in Mpumalanga, that killings on farms should stop immediately considering the agricultural sector’s contribution to the country’s economy,” the organisation says. “The SAPS is requested to do everything in its power to apprehend and prosecute the culprits.”
Mpumalanga Agriculture has also expressed concern that previous statements made by the MEC for community safety in Mpumalanga, Vusi Shongwe, regarding the incident of 9 April on Pampoenkraal, may possibly have contributed to the motivation of the barbaric murder of the defenceless mother and son.
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“The executive committee urgently appeals to both the Premier and the MEC of Community Safety in Mpumalanga to strongly condemn in public this latest murder of two innocent and defenceless people on a farm in Mpumalanga,” Mpumalanga Agriculture says. “Furthermore, the authorities are requested to apply consistently law and order without fear or favour.”
