The police, community and organised agriculture must keep farm murders from increasing in the Western Cape

16 January 2018

The farm attack on an elderly lady from Stellenbosch this past weekend is shocking and the police and communities in the Western Cape must join hands in order to ensure that farm murders do not become a common occurrence in this province as well, says Dr Corné Mulder, leader of the FF Plus in the Western Cape.

Dr Mulder says that even though the Western Cape was mostly free of farm attacks for years, there was a wave of attacks at the end of last year that has washed over to this year with the brutal attack that took place just outside Stellenbosch last weekend.

During this incident Mrs Susan Joubert (87) from the farm Aan-Den-Weg was attacked by three or four men after they stabbed her two dogs to death. She was robbed and injured after they snatched her jewellery off her person.

About two months ago, Mr Joubert Conradie (47), a farmer from Klapmuts near Stellenbosch, was shot dead on his farm Uitkyk.

Two weeks before that, Mr Mark Fagan (46) from Klein Dassenberg near Philadelphia was shot dead in yet another attack.

A few weeks before that, a farmer from Ceres in the Cold Bokkeveld was attacked in his farm stall and stabbed with a knife several times. He survived the attack.

Dr Mulder says that the Cape has been holding its breath for quite some time in anticipation of farm attacks spreading to the province, until now such attacks have mostly been unheard of.

“At this stage it is not possible to say whether or not the attacks constitute a wave of such crimes in the Western Cape. The attacks that have taken place thus far, however, surely sets alarm bells ringing. 

“The FF Plus wants to caution local farmers to approach safety on their farms in a new way, to increase security measures and to always be vigilant as farm attacks can occur anywhere in the country.

“The FF Plus also calls on the police to do everything in their power to find the offenders so as to gather intelligence on the possibility of any more attacks on farms. Drastic plans are needed to prevent the wave of farm attacks from washing over to the Western Cape.

“We also once again request that Agri Western Cape will cooperate with all the other role players to ensure our farmers’ safety,” says Dr Mulder.

Issued by Corné Mulder, FF Plus provincial leader, Western Cape, 16 January 2018