DA stands firm that farmer and farmworker lives matter in the face of ANC denialism

22 September 2020

Note to Editors: The below speech was delivered by Jacqueline Theologo MPL, the DA North West Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development, during a DA sponsored debate on rural safety, in the North West Provincial Legislature, today.

Honourable Speaker,

Farmers and farmworkers are dying.

The Democratic Alliance called for today’s debate because their lives matter.

Unfortunately, it is not the first time we are having this debate. For more than two decades, the particularly important issue of rural safety has been ignored by the ANC in government.

Yes, there has been talk-shops and lip service paid. Yes, when ANC Ministers and MECs engage rural communities, farmers unions, and the agri-sector, they tell them that their lives and property matter, but when they leave, nothing changes for the better.

The fact of the matter is that farmers, farmworkers, their families and the rural communities economically dependent on the agri-sector value chain, live under constant fear of violent criminals, who may attack at any time, to rape, torture, murder and rob.

Not only do farmers and farmworkers have to toil day and night in a harsh environment to put food on the tables of all South Africans, but they also go to bed with worry about the safety of their lives and the security of their property, their livestock, their crops.

The fact of the matter is the ANC in government does not care about rural communities, farmers and farmworkers. Small dorpies under the ANC in government across the North West are in total decay.

The SAPS has been intentionally and politically destabilised rendering them incompetent and unable to maintain law and order in the vast rural expanses of our province. Roads are in such a bad state that transporting produce to market has itself become a dangerous venture.

Speaker,

When you take all these factors into consideration, the only conclusion any reasonable person can come to is that the ANC in government has intentionally and systematically cut off the lifeblood that runs through rural communities.

Is it that the ANC in government wishes to wilfully destroy the agri-sector through its denialism? First, this ANC government disbanded the effective commando system, promising dedicated SAPS Rural safety Units – it never happened.

Then the ANC repeatedly threaten to expropriate land without compensation, supported by their youth wing, the EFF.

Does this ANC government want to collapse the entire agri-sector? Does this ANC government want the entire nation to become dependent on international food aid in future?

Honourable Speaker, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then surely it is a duck.

For more than two decades the DA has been calling for the reintroduction of specialised rural safety units.

For more than two decades, we have offered solutions to improve the security and safety of rural communities.

And for more than two decades this ANC government has done nothing to protect the rights, lives and property of farmers, farmworkers, and rural communities.

Speaker,

I have been called racist in this House for raising the plight of rural safety. I have been called names for speaking out against farm attacks.

Farm attacks is not a 'white issue'. There are white, black, coloured, and Indian farmers, all of them live in constant fear. Their lives matter.

In Madibeng, there is a gang going around tormenting farmers and farmworkers. Over the last couple of weeks there has been several, well-coordinated attacks. Farmworkers have been shot; farmers have been attacked. For a week additional mounted police were deployed, and there were no attacks, but the minute they left, two coordinated attacks took place on two different farms.

One of our proposals to improve rural safety is increased visible policing. In Madibeng we saw that it worked. Why does the ANC in government not want to deploy more patrols to rural areas?

Speaker,

The DA’s Rural Safety Plan proposes 16 interventions that will ensure the safety and security of rural communities. Its implementation will:

Establish dedicated rural safety units within the SAPS and identify rural policing sectors with dedicated police stations and a dedicated district commander

Increased police visibility through dedicated rural safety patrols

Improved and supported rural community policing forums

The establishment of rural policing support networks which include financial support for the funding pf radio rooms and the use of drone technology

The DA’s Rural Safety Plan will see the establishment of district rural safety units, a dedicated SAPS Provincial Rural Safety Directorate and a Rural Crime Intelligence Division which will ensure improved attack prevention, and in the event of an attack reported, a fast and effective response to protect lives and livelihoods, but also to apprehend criminals.

Speaker,

I wrote an open letter to Premier Job Mokgoro, asking him to be present today and to participate in this debate.

I raised with him the outcry for help coming out of rural communities. The cries of pain and suffering, of loss of life and financial deprivation brought about by the ever-increasing brutality of attacks.

I also reminded Premier Mokgoro that he has a direct line to President Cyril Ramaphosa, that he could, as the first citizen in North West, take up the plight of farmers, farmworkers, and rural communities and call for decisive action to ensure their safety and security.

Premier Mokgoro did not even have the decency to respond to my letter. Is it because he holds the view that farmer and farmworker lives do not matter?

I hope that he will stand up and, not only give us empty rhetoric but that he will act. We have had more than two decades of talk, telling us what we want to hear, but nothing ever happens.

Honourable Speaker,

Last week, along with the DA Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Annette Steyn, we engaged farmers, farmers, and agriculture unions in Tlakgameng, Lichtenburg and Potchefstroom. The stories we heard are an outcry for recognition that their lives matter. The DA heard them, and yes, their lives matter.

We also engaged with the SAPS. It is encouraging that there is a will to serve and protect rural communities, but they are left hamstrung by a lack of decisive leadership and resources. We will continue the fight to unlock funding to resource, train and equip the SAPS to capacitate them to do the work they want to do.

Speaker,

It is time to offer renewed hope in a sea of hopelessness. It is time to, again, without any ambiguity, affirm our support and appreciation for the work farmers and farmworkers do. It is time to again respect farmers and farmworkers for their dedication to feeding the nation.

It is time to say thank you. But above all, it is time to act, to protect the lives and property of farmers and farmworkers.

It is time to get South Africa behind every farmer and farmworker to support them, as they support us.

The DA stands behind every farmer and farmworker. The DA stands for every rural community. The DA will continue to fight for the recognition farmers and farmworkers deserve. And we will continue to fight until every farm, every rural community, are safe, protected and supported.

Issued by Jacqueline Theologo, DA North West Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development, 22 September 2020