DA condemns farm attack in the Hidcote area

23 September 2019

The Democratic Alliance wishes the victims of a brutal farm attack in the Hidcote area a full recovery.

The couple, Burgen and Chantelle Thorne, were attacked in their home along the D161 near Mooi River on Saturday night. The attackers left the husband badly injured with multiple stab wounds as they fled into nearby plantations. They abandoned their vehicle on a nearby gravel road.

The husband was rushed to Hospital in Pietermaritzburg and was joined by his wife soon after.

The DA would also like to thank the farmers of the Hidcote area as well as Nsele Security for their rapid response to the incident.

This is the latest in a number of criminal incidents that have taken place in this area over the past few months. Another farm attack had happened a few weeks earlier and a number of farmers have reported livestock and farm equipment stolen.

These acts of agricultural terrorism cannot continue. The DA is again calling on the MEC for agriculture, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, to show leadership and implement a rural safety plan. The DA has written to the MEC repeatedly without any response. The DA in KwaZulu-Natal is proposing some of the following interventions amongst others:

- directly subsidising/supporting rural safety initiatives and farm watches
- establishing rural safety units (similar to the disbanded commando units)
- properly equipping and capacitating SAPS to prevent crime in rural areas

The DA has recently announced a R1 billion safety plan for the DA run Western Cape despite the responsibility for safety falling squarely at the door of National Government: who have failed to keep South Africans safe.

The DA will continue to pressure the KwaZulu-Natal government to step up and protect rural communities, farmers and farm workers.

Issued by Christopher Pappas, DA KZN Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development, 23 September 2019