More die in farm attacks than in defence operations
The slaughter on South African farms are continuing unabated and despite the numerous calls of the Freedom Front Plus on government to declare farm attacks a priority crime, no finger is being lifted to give attention to the matter.
In contrast with this, billions of rand are spent on defence equipment and personnel to assist African countries to protect their interests.
To date this year, 17 people have already been murdered in 44 farm attacks in South Africa. These figures were obtained from media reports which have been collected by the Transvaal Agricultural Union's unit for farm murders, as no other official statistics on farm attacks are being kept.
According to these figures, 685 people have been murdered in 1 234 farm attacks in the past ten years.
In the latest incident, Mr. Paul Schulte, the manager of the popular Heia Safari Resort in Muldersdrift, West of Johannesburg, was shot dead on Tuesday morning while he was on his way to his house. The founder of the resort, Mr. Franz Richter, was also murdered on the farm in 2007.
On Sunday, Ms. Liesl Botha, also from Muldersdrift, was overpowered in her home and robbed. Her daughter, Alyssa (13), was shot dead on the plot last year.
After the tragic death of the 13 South African troops in the Central African Republic (CAR), the government intervened on the highest level and president Jacob Zuma and a senior cabinet minister delegation this week flew to Chad for urgent talks.
The official reason given for South African troop's presence in the CAR is to help with "training, disarming and demobilising". The assistance will last until 2018 at a cost of R21 million a month, which would amount to a total of R1,26 billion over five years.
Mr. Pieter Groenewald, the Freedom Front Plus' chief spokesperson on Police and Defence, says that government will have to account for the exact reasons for its presence in Africa.
"It is understandable that South Africa is involved in other places in Africa for strategic reasons. But is the country's farming community not one of its biggest strategic interest resources?
"The time has come for government to pay as much time, effort and money to their (the farmer's) safety and protection as it is paying for its interests abroad," Groenewald says.
Statement issued by Mr. Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus chief spokesperson: Police, April 3 2013
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