The FF Plus has requested a meeting with the Free State Police Commissioner, Major General Moeketsi Sembe, to discuss the rise in farm attacks in the province.
This follows after Jappie van den Berg (75) and his wife Emma (75) were attacked on Saturday, 28 April 2018, on their farm Langeveld in the Hertzogville district. They are recovering in the Bloemfontein hospital at present.
The FF Plus commends the swift action taken by the police during which two helicopters were used to apprehend five suspects in cooperation with the community. The FF Plus, however, remains concerned that reckless and unfounded statements about land in South Africa are making vulnerable rural residents targets for violence.
In many cases, groups of two of more attackers launch attacks on farms where the owners are unable to defend themselves.
This safety vacuum is what the FF Plus intends to discuss with Sembe.
During the planned meeting with Sembe, the FF Plus wants to highlight certain safety issues and make recommendations that may strengthen the hand of the police in making rural areas safer for all.
If Sembe really is committed to cooperate with all sectors of society in order to address the problem of crime in the province, then he has no choice but to agree to meet with the FF Plus to discuss farm attacks.
Every crime committed in the province must be addressed, but farm murders are becoming more and more politically motivated due to political parties, like the ANC and EFF, spreading blatant lies by saying that the white people stole the land in South Africa.
There are numerous reasons for why the government’s land reform process is a failure and the ANC is playing a very dangerous game by blaming white farmers for the inequalities in the country.
So-called white privilege is not automatically the cause of black poverty. Some politicians’ populist statements in this regard are painting a distorted picture of the real problems affecting South Africa.
They are not offering feasible political solutions. And that only paves the way for even more farm attacks.
Read the original article in Afrikaans on FF Plus
South Africa Today – South Africa News
