Limpopo is now the province where the most farm attacks and murders occur. Gauteng previously had the number one spot‚ said agriculture union TAU-SA and activist group AfriForum.
Releasing updated data on farm attacks for the first half of 2015‚ the groups recorded 27 murders and 116 attacks.
Five people were killed in 25 incidents in Limpopo over the past six months.
In KwaZulu-Natal‚ five people were killed in 11 attacks‚ while in Gauteng there were four deaths resulting from 14 attacks. The Free State had 19 attacks in which four people died.
A total of 1‚747 farm murders and 3‚542 attacks took place between 1990 and mid-year 2015‚ AfriForum and TAU SA said in a statement and via social media.
Of the murder victims‚ 1‚133 were farmers‚ 465 direct family members‚ 130 farm workers and 19 visitors.
General Chris van Zyl‚ assistant head manager of TAU SA‚ said farm attacks are becoming increasingly brutal and as well as fatal.
Ernst Roets‚ Deputy CEO of AfriForum‚ said government should declare farm murders a priority crime due to the frequency of attacks‚ the brutality involved‚ and the role farmers play in South Africa.
Roets and Lorraine Claasen‚ a researcher and criminologist at AfriForum‚ are leaving for Australia tomorrow to address the World Society of Victimology Congress.
“We hope to gain international awareness regarding farm attacks. It is important for the world to take notice of how serious farm attacks are‚” Claasen said.
“We can be part of the solution‚ but only if the government supports us. Till then we will have to enforce international pressure on them. The SA government must be forced to take action‚” said Henk van de Graaf‚ assistant head manager of TAU SA.
TAU SA and AfriForum said they were planning various projects this year such as neighbourhood watches‚ training of farm guards and “expansion of tracking abilities”.
Source: RDM News Wire.
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