• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Lifestyle
KZN farm attacks: ‘Criminals aren’t afraid of the law’

KZN farm attacks: ‘Criminals aren’t afraid of the law’

17th November 2021
Many people love avocados, but did you know that the introduction of just one of these fruits per day can improve the overall quality of your diet? Photo: Pixabay

An avocado a day can keep the doctor away

10th August 2022
Davidzo Chizhengeni, animal scientist, founder of KvD livestock, Ika Cronje, farmer and participant in the Corteva Women Agripreneur 2022 programme, Vuyokazi Makapela, a Director at Afrivet, and permaculture farmer, Stephanie Mullins. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Podcast: Prevent rabies with vaccination

10th August 2022
ADVERTISEMENT
Control and prevent downy mildew on crops

Control and prevent downy mildew on crops

10th August 2022
The value of South Africa’s informal farming sector is understated, experts say, and many farmers say that they prefer trading to this segment of the economy. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

New farmer? Informal markets ‘the way to go’

10th August 2022
Gauteng police recovered and confiscated sheep and goats in Sedibeng this week. Photo: Supplied/SAPS

ICYMI: Police recover stolen livestock

10th August 2022
Ecological farming the answer to food insecurity

Ecological farming the answer to food insecurity

9th August 2022
Setting up a regenerative smallholding

Setting up a regenerative smallholding

9th August 2022
Determination drives this #SoilSista to succeed

Determination drives this #SoilSista to succeed

9th August 2022
The women who dared to start farming in Mzansi when few others would. Photo: Food For Mzansi

She bosses: ‘We see farming changing for good’

9th August 2022
Refiloe Molefe has vowed to build a new urban farm after the City of Johannesburg bulldozed the site she built in Bertrams. Photo: Supplied/GroundUp

ICYMI: Mama Fifi determined to rise again

9th August 2022
Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

8th August 2022
Claire and Martin Joubert have sacrificed and struggled to become top breeders of Ankole cattle in South Africa. But giving up was never an option, because they wanted to offer only the very best Ankole genetics in the country. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Farming couple lives and breathes Ankole cattle

8th August 2022
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
11 GLOBAL MEDIA AWARDS
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Food For Mzansi
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
    • All
    • AgriCareers
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Farmers
    • Groundbreakers
    • Innovators
    • Inspiration
    • It Takes a Village
    • Mentors
    • Movers and Shakers
    • Partnerships
    Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

    Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

    Claire and Martin Joubert have sacrificed and struggled to become top breeders of Ankole cattle in South Africa. But giving up was never an option, because they wanted to offer only the very best Ankole genetics in the country. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Farming couple lives and breathes Ankole cattle

    Tackling climate change, one tree at a time

    Agricareers: Veterinary science not for the timid

    Agricareers: Veterinary science not for the timid

    Once struggling farm now a family heirloom

    Optimal yields now at farmers’ finger tips

    Some of the children with the ECD practitioner Yolanda Shabalala. Zero2Five Trust promotes holistic Early Childhood Development in formerly disadvantaged areas by improving learners’ health and education outcomes with nutrition and education programmes. Photo: Supplied/Zero2Five Trust

    Zero2Five: Giving hope to KZN flood victims

    Agripreneur 101: Kupisa Sauce is going places

    Agripreneur 101: Kupisa Sauce is going places

    Ncumisa Mkabile, is a farmer, community activist that has won numerous awards for her work in agriculture. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Farmer, influencer, go-getter – Ncumisa’s all that

  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
No Result
View All Result
Food For Mzansi

KZN farm attacks: ‘Criminals aren’t afraid of the law’

The CEO of farmer organisation Kwanalu says attacks in KwaZulu-Natal are creating an air of tension as residents are seeing very few arrests in the province. Calls are unanimous for the police to restore law and order in the province as a matter of urgency

by Sinesipho Tom
17th November 2021
in News
Reading Time: 6 mins read
A A
KZN farm attacks: ‘Criminals aren’t afraid of the law’

Fear and tension are the two emotions that KwaZulu-Natal farmers express as the number of attacks on farms continues to rise, and confidence is dwindling on the police’s ability to restore law and order.

Two farm attacks were reported in the province in just the last week. The first was reported in Estcourt on Monday, 8 November after Malcom Moor (85), his wife Doreen (81) and their son John were held at gunpoint and handcuffed in their home by five armed men during load shedding.

Just a day later, in the evening of Tuesday, 9 November, a 56-year-old unnamed woman was brutally attacked and hacked with a panga during a farm attack in Middelrus between Mooi River and Greytown. The attack was reportedly carried out by a “group of people” who had entered her farmhouse.

ADVERTISEMENT

ALSO READ: Farm attacks: These 6 towns are on the danger list

An undermining of law enforcement

Sandy La Marque, CEO of Kwanalu, says these attacks are causing an air of concern in some areas in the province and tension in others, as residents are seeing very few arrests in the province.

Sandy le Marque, CEO of Kwanalu. Photo: Supplied/ Food For Mzansi

“From the July riots which took place, it is very concerning that very few people were arrested. To date, there is still no convictions. There was a great deal of evidence from video, WhatsApps, Facebook, etc.

“Unless law and order are upheld by the South African Police Service, [the department of] justice and others, this will continue [and] undermine law enforcement in KZN.”

La Marque tells Food For Mzansi that another irksome aspect of governance in the province, is that long-outstanding matters are not resolved and many commitments for special interventions, made towards the community, are never brought to fruition.

Last year the departments of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta), and transport, community safety and liaison, together with the provincial house of traditional leaders, signed a protocol agreement in Ulundi to improve rural safety.

Among the key points of the initiative, was that committees would be formed to sit in traditional councils and to relay information on crime from the community to the police. This was to formalise communication between traditional leaders and the police.

Developments about the agreement and how it has improved rural safety in the area have not been shared or documented.

“The state of SAPS in KwaZulu-Natal is also very worrying. For example, there are limited resources and budgets, poor work ethic and numerous cases not attended to,” La Marque says.

ADVERTISEMENT

‘Urgent and focused attention needed from police’

La Marque says Kwanalu’s expectation from government and the police is for urgent and focused attention to crime and the upholding of law and order. They needed to bring criminals to book without fear or favour. “The National Rural Safety Strategy must be implemented, and an appropriate budget and resources must be allocated, amongst others.”

La Marque further says that, following Kwanalu’s visits to all districts in the province to discuss safety and security issues, they are working on the concerns of farmers and engaging them at all levels.  “Kwanalu is always concerned when an attack takes place. Crime is having a severe impact on the rural and agricultural sector.”

The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for agriculture and rural development, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for agriculture and rural development, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for agriculture and rural development, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, is also very concerned about the continued attack on farmers.

“I would like to reiterate that an attack on a farmer is an attack on the country’s food security. Their role is very important in ensuring sustainable food production for the nation and the continent at large.”

The MEC calls on the law enforcement agencies to do whatever it takes to apprehend these criminals so that justice can take its course.

National perspective

Uys van der Westhuijzen, chairman of Agri SA’s centre of excellence for rural safety, says the picture of farm attacks from a national perspective looks bleak.

He tells Food For Mzansi that they receive a steady stream of reports from farmers about farm attacks and murders, not only against farm owners but also against farmworkers and their families.

“The attacks and murders are many and at times brutal and out of proportion, if one can put it like that. We also have ‘normal’ burglaries, which is a major concern to Agri SA.

“What is more concerning is the fact that many of these incidents occur during the curfew period, when no-one is supposed to be outside their residences. The question one can ask is, ‘Why are vehicles and people allowed to travel and walk about when the law states quite clearly that this is an offence?’ ”

Uys van der Westhuijzen, chairman of Agri SA's centre of excellence for rural safety. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
Uys van der Westhuijzen, chairman of Agri SA’s centre of excellence for rural safety. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Van der Westhuijzen wonders whether the criminals are even afraid of getting caught, because the current arrest rate, judiciary system and sentencing in the country are in such a state that it does not pose a threat to criminals.

 “This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

Load shedding can have a further serious influence on the increase of crime, he adds. It has an effect on the alarm systems and stretches the capabilities of many security companies to the extreme.

Load shedding requires extra vigilance from the farming community. It is therefore critical that farmers need to ensure they have adequate extra power supplies (for example, batteries, generators and solar panels) available to ensure that their alarm, camera, communication and light systems are operational even during extended periods of load shedding.

ALSO READ: Farm attacks: A dangerous melting pot of violence and opportunity

Sign up for Mzansi Today: Your daily take on the news and happenings from the agriculture value chain.

Tags: Farm attacksKwaZulu-Natal
Previous Post

Poultry organisation rocked by fraud allegations

Next Post

How to grow healthier, more resilient crops

Sinesipho Tom

Sinesipho Tom

Sinesipho Tom is an audience engagement journalist at Food for Mzansi. Before joining the team, she worked in financial and business news at Media24. She has an appetite for news reporting and has written articles for Business Insider, Fin24 and Parent 24. If you could describe Sinesipho in a sentence you would say that she is a small-town girl with big, big dreams.

Related Posts

Some of the children with the ECD practitioner Yolanda Shabalala. Zero2Five Trust promotes holistic Early Childhood Development in formerly disadvantaged areas by improving learners’ health and education outcomes with nutrition and education programmes. Photo: Supplied/Zero2Five Trust

Zero2Five: Giving hope to KZN flood victims

by Staff Reporter
27th July 2022
0

The Zero2Five Trust has been working tirelessly to provide children and their families with food parcels and blankets in the...

KZN event shining a light on the dairy industry

KZN event shining a light on the dairy industry

by Nicole Ludolph
27th July 2022
0

EVENT: KPR Conference and Trading is hosting a three-day dairy farming event in August to shine a light on the...

Public servants sow good deeds across Mzansi

Public servants sow good deeds across Mzansi

by Staff Reporter
20th July 2022
0

In pictures: It's a wrap. Mandela Day 2022 once again saw thousands of South Africans spend at least 67 minutes...

In this episode on natural disasters that threaten agricultural production, we are joined by Andrea Campher, Agri SA’s risk and disaster manager. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Podcast: Managing disasters in the farming sector

by Vateka Halile
10th July 2022
0

FARMER'S INSIDE TRACK: With April's floods in KwaZulu-Natal a prime example, a risk and disaster expert examines what the government...

Next Post
Andermatt Madumbi's biostimulant range makes sure that your plants are as healthy as they can be. Photo: Bok Choy/Unsplash

How to grow healthier, more resilient crops

The value of South Africa’s informal farming sector is understated, experts say, and many farmers say that they prefer trading to this segment of the economy. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
News

New farmer? Informal markets ‘the way to go’

by Tiisetso Manoko
10th August 2022
0

Apart from the 40 000 commercial farmers in Mzansi, hundreds of thousands of smallholders contribute to the economy too. Many...

Read more
Gauteng police recovered and confiscated sheep and goats in Sedibeng this week. Photo: Supplied/SAPS

ICYMI: Police recover stolen livestock

10th August 2022
Ecological farming the answer to food insecurity

Ecological farming the answer to food insecurity

9th August 2022
Setting up a regenerative smallholding

Setting up a regenerative smallholding

9th August 2022
Determination drives this #SoilSista to succeed

Determination drives this #SoilSista to succeed

9th August 2022

Get the best out of your pigs’ genetics

She bosses: ‘We see farming changing for good’

Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

ICYMI: High Court victory for former farmworker

Fuel rebates should expand to other businesses

60m. mouths to feed: ‘We’ve got you, Mzansi’

THE NEW FACE OF SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE

With 12 global awards in the first three years of its existence, Food For Mzansi is much more than an agriculture publication. It is a movement, unashamedly saluting the unsung heroes of South African agriculture. We believe in the power of agriculture to promote nation building and social cohesion by telling stories that are often overlooked by broader society.

An avocado a day can keep the doctor away

Podcast: Prevent rabies with vaccination

Control and prevent downy mildew on crops

New farmer? Informal markets ‘the way to go’

ICYMI: Police recover stolen livestock

Ecological farming the answer to food insecurity

  • Our Story
  • Contact Us
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright

Contact us
Office: +27 21 879 1824
News: info@foodformzansi.co.za
Advertising: sales@foodformzansi.co.za

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought

Copyright © 2021 Food for Mzansi

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.