The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes an announcement by KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Premier, Sihle Zikalala, that the provincial government will convene a multi-stakeholder meeting in order to address the issue of farm and rural safety.
The move by the Premier comes after the DA in KZN recently submitted a 10-point action plan to the Premier. This following the senseless and brutal killing of a Normandien couple this past weekend, as well as the spate of killings in Mthwalume.
The DA’s suggestions to the Premier included convening a special and urgent summit of stakeholders and experts to advise government on practical steps that can be taken to curb the scourge of farm attacks and murders and address growing concerns around rural safety.
The DA regards the Premier’s move as a step forward in making our farming and rural communities safer for all, black or white, farmer or farm worker. We now urge the Premier to implement more of the proposals which include;
- The establishment of an inter-ministerial task team, to report directly to the Premier, on farm and rural safety on a regular basis
- Reprioritisation of KZN’s Community Safety budget to directly subsidize private security initiatives, farm patrols, and farm watches. SAPS cannot win this fight alone and the people of KZN do not have the resources
- Declaring farm attacks and murders as hate crime and a priority crime in the province. The disproportionate statistics and incomparably brutal nature of these crimes justifies this response
- The establishment of court watching briefs to track the progress of investigations and prosecutions
- Public acknowledgement by the Premier of crimes being committed against farmers, farm workers and rural communities
- Partnerships with independent research institutes to better understand the nature and causes of farm and rural crimes
- Intensified SAPS intelligence-driven operations in rural areas, particularly those that are crime hotspots
- The roll-out of technology-based solutions including drones, CCtv and licence plate recognition within rural areas and;
- A thorough investigation and report on whether or not local and district municipalities, as well as provincial government departments, are complying with and implementing legislation regarding safety, poaching, fire protection and the illegal occupation of public and private land.
The DA in KZN will continue to be the loudest political voice championing the issue of rural and farm safety in our province. We will also continue to put workable solutions to our collective challenges on the table.