Zuma must announce rural safety units in his SONA reply

Dear Editor

The DA is horrified by the most recent farm attack in Mpumalanga, in which a family of four was murdered. It is now time that President Jacob Zuma commits to re-introduce rural safety units and we call on him to do so in his SONA reply on Thursday.

Millions of South Africans in our rural communities, farmworkers and farmers alike, exist in a constant state of fear. They fear for their lives and the lives of their families. It does not have to be like this and can be addressed if the President does the right thing and brings back rural safety units.

The DA will also call for a joint sitting of the Committees on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Police so that the South African Human Rights Commissions’ report into farm murders, can be discussed urgently.

The report, released in October 2015, found that:

• Law enforcement agencies such as the SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority should step up their involvement in combating crimes against farming communities;
• The SAPS should submit periodic progress reports on crime in farming communities to the SAHRC;
• The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform should provide a policy brief on the current status of land tenure in the farming communities and establish the standard of housing delivered to farm workers and dwellers, this standard needs to be guided by the principles of dignity; and
• The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development should include farming communities in the Promotion of the Rights of Vulnerable Groups (PRVG) programme.

While South Africans in the rural areas fear for their lives, the Minister of Police has utterly failed to provide leadership and is far more concerned with the on-going civil war within the police services than with ensuring that our people are kept safe.

Since the beginning of February, 30 farms have come under attack, and 11 people have lost their lives in farm murders across the country.

The DA has repeatedly called for the rural safety units to be re-introduced and will not rest until this happens.

The lack of political will by the ANC government to adequately deal with the issue of farm attacks will not stand.

Regards

Annette Steyn MP
DA Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries