Yet another attack on a small holding in Mpumalanga has set the alarm bells ringing, and it is clear that this province is being targeted by farm attackers.
On Tuesday evening, an elderly woman, the 75-year-old Ms Adele Kimble, was overpowered and brutally assaulted in her home on her small holding on the Uitkyk Road in the Mbombela Local Municipality.
This attack took place barely two weeks after the farm murder of Mr Theo Bekker and the assault on his wife on their farm in the Dipaleseng Local Municipality.
The FF Plus sent an urgent letter with pertinent questions and proposals regarding rural safety to the provincial MEC for Community Safety, Mr Vusi Shongwe.
According to a report issued by AfriForum, no arrests for farm murders were followed by successful prosecution in Mpumalanga during 2022. Eight serious farm-attack incidents have already occurred in the province between January and March this year.
The onslaught on farms and small holdings leaves no room for doubt that the poor prosecution rate is no deterrent. The FF Plus demands that Mr Shongwe must explain why the local police is so tardy when it comes to acting and responding to farm attacks.
The FF Plus also wants to know the statistics on arrests and successful prosecutions from January 2023 to date. Sentences for these brutal crimes should be imposed as severely as possible to serve as a deterrent.
Seeing as only a handful of suspects have been apprehend, the perpetrators of these heinous crimes will probably continue committing them.
It is unacceptable that the ANC government is indirectly condoning farm attacks with its silence on the matter and failure to take action.
The FF Plus is once again calling on Mpumalanga communities to join their local safety and security structures.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Werner Weber on FF Plus
