DA reiterates call for rural safety plan following Schweizer-Reneke farm attack

8 June 2023

The DA in North West condemns the attack on Mrs Huibrey Kotze on her farm outside Schweizer-Reneke this week.

Mrs Kotze’s survived the attack, although sustaining injuries from assault with a solid piece of iron. Her bravery and her ability to maintain clarity of thought during this horrible ordeal saw her escape after locking the two criminals in the room.

Mrs Kotze’s quick thinking saw her escape to safety and call for emergency assistance from neighbours and the SAPS. One of the criminals was later arrested while the other remains at large.

Farmers, farm workers and rural communities should not have to endure violent ordeals such as these. There is no place for this brutality in our communities. That rural communities continue to live in fear of the constant threat of violent onslaught is unacceptable.

Every farm attack is an attack too many and is an indictment of the inability of the SAPS to ensure the safety of rural residents. Although there are dedicated police officers who put their lives on the line to serve and protect, they are let down by the lack of resources at their disposal to prevent and fight crime effectively.

This Scweizer-Reneke farm attack follows a bloody weekend of farm murders in Limpopo and the Western Cape. Every farm murder rips families and communities apart and leaves a lasting trauma.

The DA has repeatedly called for the reintroduction of adequately trained and resourced specialised rural safety units to prevent the violent crime rural communities are subjected to. Unfortunately, the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, and the entire ANC-led National Government have done nothing to prevent and fight the violent onslaught farmers, farm workers, and rural communities face every day.

In line with the DA’s Congress resolution to fight violent rural crime and farm attacks, we have now also written to President Cyril Ramaphosa to establish a special commission of inquiry into the relentless wave of brutal violence rural communities endure throughout South Africa.

There is no doubt that this commission of inquiry will make the same recommendations that the DA has long been calling for. Farm attacks must be declared a priority crime. Properly resourced and trained specialised rural safety units must be reintroduced. These units must be equipped with the technology, vehicles, and manpower to prevent and respond to rural crimes effectively, to save lives and livelihoods.

The DA will not rest until every farmer, farm worker and every rural community feels safe, and their lives and property are protected from the criminal onslaught brought about by the ANC National Government’s refusal to recognise their desperate pleas for help to guarantee their very basic human rights to safety, security, and prosperity.

Issued by Carin Visser, DA Constituency Head, Mamusa Local Municipality, 8 June 2023