Left in the dark. This is how farmers feel about police minister Bheki Cele’s plans to deal with farm-related crimes in the country. Despite some successes, a new spotlight on the National Rural Safety Strategy NRSS has cast doubt on the strategy’s effectiveness.
The uncertainty follows Cele’s recent budget speech. Kobus Visser, head of rural safety at Agri SA, expressed disappointment that the speech did not mention the NRSS, or how the ministry intended to deal with crime in rural areas.
“We need effective criminal investigations, detention of criminals, effective intelligence systems to analyse crime information, which includes organised crime, and the ability to gather information to prevent crime before it happens,” he said.
Visser added that, for the NRSS to be successfully implemented, the farming sector needed a commitment from Cele on how he planned to deal with rural crime and to provide adequate resources such as reservists.
Mzansi’s most recent crime stats revealed that, from January to March 2022, 78 murders occurred on agricultural land, farms, plots and smallholdings (333 for the full financial year). At the same time 52 attempted murders and 301 cases of gender-based violence were reported.
In terms of stock theft, sheep remained the most sought-after livestock by thieves. According to police data, 21 503 sheep, 14 623 cattle and 14 134 goats were stolen in the first three months of this year alone (75 877 sheep, 49 701 cattle and 48 369 goats for the full financial year).
Limpopo saw the biggest year-on-year increase in reported stock theft cases. It recorded a 42.2% increases in cases, followed by the Free State (9.1%), Northern Cape (8.7%) and KwaZulu-Natal (7.2%). Both Mpumalanga and North West recorded increases of just over 1%. Three provinces recorded year-on-year decreases: the Western Cape with a 17.4% decrease, the Eastern Cape with a 12.7% decrease and Gauteng with an 8.3% decrease.
Low detective and vehicle count
According to Jane Buys, security risk analysts at Free State Agriculture, one murder or attack on the agricultural sector is one too many as the consequences that these crimes had on the sector were far too great.
“An analysis (by FSA) of farm murders and attacks showed that there were 47 farm murders and 332 farm attacks over a six-year period (2016 to 2022) in the Free State whereby producers, emerging and/or upcoming farmers, workers and security guards were either murdered or attacked,” Buys said.
Commenting on the NRSS, Buys said that success would be indicated by a decrease in stats on farm attacks, murders and stock theft.
The strategy was designed to respond to the safety and security needs of rural communities but Buys pointed out various holes in the approach, such as lacking police farm visits and the compilation of farm dweller profiles.
According to Buys, “the shortage of vehicles is a problematic issue that has been raised at priority committee levels for years to SAPS management. Seemingly, nothing is being done about that.
“Some of the units have only two to three members. They have a vast area to travel and investigate, and complaints from farming communities have shown that some farmers have to wait up to three days for a detective to arrive at the crime scene.”
FSA also regards the low detective and vehicle count at stock theft units as “economic sabotage” of the agricultural sector. “Because 52 to 55% of crimes committed on the agricultural sector can be attributed to livestock theft.”
Response by the ministry
Answering Food For Mzansi’s questions on why there was no mention of how much money would go to the NRSS during this financial year, Lirandzu Themba, police ministry spokesperson, said that the implementation of the strategy was funded from baseline allocations to the provinces.
“However, there is a process to invest [in the] capacity of police stations, especially the smaller ones which are often in rural areas. There is also a process to address the capacity of specialised detective units, including the stock theft units which are mostly situated in rural areas.”
Themba said they encouraged the participation of the community in joint crime prevention initiatives, community-based structures and crime prevention initiatives.
100+ farm attacks prevented
Despite these shortcomings, both Buys and Visser applauded increased police visibility in rural areas – one of the key points highlighted in the NRSS.
More than 126 farm attacks were prevented in the Free State thanks to the sharing of information between FSA, farmers and the police, Buys said. “With the contingency and safety plans that are in place in rural and farming communities, the reaction of farming communities in terms of mobilisation and those of the police can be regarded as good.”
In turn, Visser pointed to visible policing having been effective in managing crime in the border corridor between the Eastern Cape and Lesotho. According to him, crime in the area has been quite effectively dealt with thanks to visible policing.
In general, the NRSS holds all the elements needed to deal with rural crime, Visser believed. “The only thing that is needed is the effective implementation of the strategy. There’s no new policy that is needed. What we need is just effective implementation by the ministry of police and relevant stakeholders.”
Meanwhile, the Rural Safety Summit that would be held on 30 June, as announced by the police ministry, has been postponed. Themba did not reveal the reason behind the postponement, but told Food For Mzansi that the ministry was working on a new date.
ALSO READ: Produce and stock theft now ‘part of farmers’ reality’
Sign up for Mzansi Today: Your daily take on the news and happenings from the agriculture value chain.
