DA condemns attack on elderly Karkloof couple, calls on government to act

7 November 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has learned with dismay of a brutal attack on an elderly couple in the rural Karkloof area in the early hours of this morning.

According to reports, the couple - aged 82 and 84 years - were attacked at around 4am by an assailant armed with a rake. A suspect has been apprehended by a local security company and SAPS are currently on scene taking statements.

The elderly woman has since been taken to a Pietermaritzburg hospital by Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) where she is in a critical condition.  Her husband, who sustained less serious injuries, has remained on the farm with family and members of SAPS.

The DA’s local ward councillor has been assisting the family since early this morning and our prayers are with the victims and their family, who we hope will have a speedy recovery from this traumatic incident.

In August, a joint sitting of KZN’s Agriculture and Community Safety portfolio committees led to various resolutions being proposed for government to intervene in the ongoing crimes against farmers, farm workers and rural communities.

After taking presentations from SAPS and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) the meeting was adjourned with a commitment made to meet in the near future to propose solutions to the respective MECs. To date, almost three months later, no follow-up session has been held and no plans or resolutions have been put forward.

The DA views this as a disgrace and yet another indication that government is only paying lip service to the issue of farm attacks and rural safety.

The DA in KZN has already submitted 10 quickly implementable solutions to the provincial government. These include;

- Strengthening crime intelligence in hotspot areas
- Directly subsidizing private farm security initiatives in order to help farmers with the extra financial burden and to assist the overstretched SAPS
- Utilising technology solutions such as drones, CCtv and licence plate recognition
- The establishment of a rural safety directorate at a provincial level and;
- The establishment of an inter-ministerial committee on rural safety that reports to the Premier.

If KZN’s ANC-led government is truly committed to fighting the scourge of crime within our farming communities, it will immediately convene the outstanding meeting on rural safety and implement the recommendations by the DA, the SAPS and the SAHRC.

From rural safety to collapsing municipalities, KZN’s government remains idle on issues of provincial importance. This while the DA remains the only voice in KZN’s provincial parliament advocating for farm and rural safety.

The DA will continue to drive this issue until government wakes up and takes action to protect our embattled farming communities. We will be monitoring this latest incident through our court watching brief programme to ensure that the victims see justice served.

Issued by Chris Pappas, DA KZN Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development, 7 November 2020