Criminals attacking farmers and people who live on smallholdings have changed their approach and are now going for those that are more isolated, acting national commissioner Lieutenant General Khomotso Phahlane said on Thursday.
“Our analysis has shown that there is a particular modus operandi visible during the commission of these incidents of violence and crime on farms and smallholdings. The analysis has shown that there has been a major shift in target selection from smallholdings to more isolated farms,” he said during a press briefing with AgriSA.
“Furthermore, another feature is that they mostly occur between Thursday and Saturday at night, while most victims are attacked while asleep.”
The meeting was part of an on-going engagement with structures and various role-players within the agricultural environment in a bid to curb farm killings. Phahlane said earlier in May that there had been another meeting with AfriForum, where they had committed to continue with the engagements aimed at ensuring that farming and rural communities were safe.
He said the trends that they had seen indicated that the number of perpetrators at a time ranged from two to eight; split into two groups at most incidents.
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