On 21 May 2025, a Joint Parliamentary Committee Report on Farm Murders was adopted. For the first time, two key portfolio committees — Agriculture and Police — acknowledged the reality of farm attacks, their increasing frequency, and the need for urgent intervention.
While this is a step in the right direction, recognition without action is meaningless. It is imperative that the DA’s 10-point plan is implemented. Reports do not restore lives, and food is not produced in supermarkets — it is grown by the hands of farmers and farm workers, many of whom live in daily fear.
When our farms are under threat, our food security is under threat.
The criminal case surrounding the murder of 81-year-old retired Northern Cape farmer Hendrik Venter is a stark example of the systemic failures that continue to deny justice to rural communities. Venter was viciously murdered in his home in September 2024 — stabbed three times in the head. Within 72 hours, police had detained five suspects. Yet despite this swift initial action, the case was struck off the court roll in May 2025 due to forensic backlogs, incomplete records, and poor prosecution.
The suspects were not released because they were found innocent, but because the state was not prepared. To this day, the case has not been re-enrolled, and the family has received no justice. This is not an exception — it is becoming the norm.
The DA remains committed to confronting rural and community safety challenges with realism, urgency and resolve. Our 10-point plan offers concrete, actionable reforms to restore law and order in rural South Africa and protect both lives and livelihoods:
- Establish a specialised Rural Safety Unit within SAPS, with trained and equipped individuals solely focused on rural crime, farm attacks and stock theft.
- Strengthen rural crime intelligence through better data collection, functional networks and genuine cooperation with farm watches and traditional leaders.
- Fix the criminal justice system by ensuring prosecution-led investigations and real-time intelligence sharing between SAPS and the NPA.
- Recognise the brutal nature of farm murders and treat them as targeted, premeditated crimes.
- Declare farm attacks and stock theft as priority crimes to ensure they receive the urgency they deserve.
- Institutionalise partnerships with local stakeholders to enhance community-driven safety strategies.
- Equip SAPS with forensic tools and skilled investigators to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.
- Rebuild trust between police and rural communities through transparency, accountability and visible action.
- Support emerging farmers through secure land ownership, infrastructure, and financial assistance.
- Oppose expropriation without compensation, which threatens investor confidence, destabilises agriculture and undermines food security.
The case of Hendrik Venter is not just a tragic failure — it is a warning. Without serious and immediate reform, our rural communities will continue to suffer in silence, and the foundation of our national economy — agriculture — will continue to erode. A government that cannot protect its farmers cannot feed its people.
This is not a plea for special treatment. It is a demand for equal protection for all rural families, farm workers, and farmers.
We owe them more than sympathy. We owe them safety.