Almost 40% of KZN’s farmers feel less safe during lockdown as crime increases
26 April 2020
A survey by the Democratic Alliance has revealed that 21% of farmers in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have experienced an increase in crime during the lockdown period, with 39% claiming that they feel that their personal safety and security has been compromised during the current lockdown period.
The random survey, conducted amongst 45 commercial and small-scale farmers across the province showed that crime including theft of tools/machinery, theft of crops such as maize and vegetables as well as stock-theft has increased. The information was collated during the period 2nd and 10th April.
The DA is extremely concerned by what the survey has shown. Given the increasing desperation being felt by so many people in the province it is highly likely that these results may have increased over the last week or so. Increasing hunger and loss of income has created a situation where people resort to desperate means to survive, notwithstanding that there are also criminals who will utilise the lockdown to their own advantage.
It is clear from these results that KZN’s Agriculture MEC, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi and her Department need to take a more proactive approach and lead the fight in prioritising farm safety. With increasing incidents of looting and theft it is imperative that a plan be put in place to ensure that food production and lives are protected. This needs to be done as a collaborative effort with the Department of Community Safety and the Office of the Premier in KZN.
It is for this reason that the DA has written to MEC Sithole-Moloi as well as the provincial MEC for Community Safety and the Premier to request that the following four steps be urgently considered in an effort to ensure continued food security and the protection of food production lines in the province;
- Support for security initiatives within in farming communities through direct and indirect subsidisation. Direct subsidisation would include conditional allocations from the departmental budget through emergency reprioritisation mechanisms. These would be paid in support of security initiatives being provided by authorised security companies. Indirect subsidisation would include the purchase of farm radios, CCTV cameras, LPR camera's, etc. This equipment and support would help to reduce the financial stress on already heavily burdened farmers.
- Increased allocation of resources to stock-theft units. The MEC for Agriculture, through the MEC for Community Safety, must ensure that KZN’s stock-theft units are sufficiently resourced to react to the increasing threats against livestock.
- Smart deployment of neighbourhood watches, farm watches and Community Police Forums. The MEC for Agriculture must engage with the MEC for Community Safety to ensure the smart deployment of neighbourhood watches (NHW), farm watches and Community Police Forums (CPF) to assist the under-resourced South African Police Services (SAPS) and military to ensure public safety during the lockdown
- Establishment of task team. MEC Sithole-Moloi, in conjunction with the Department of Community Safety, needs to establish a task team to investigate and track all incidents of crime that affect food security. Working with farming associations and cooperatives, the task team should aim to track incidents and assist law enforcement to react to high risk and hotspot areas in KZN.
The DA has submitted these proposals to MEC Sithole-Moloi, her Community Safety counterpart and the Premier. We sincerely hope that they will acknowledge and implement our suggestions in the spirit of collaboration as expressed by the President.
Issued by Chris Pappas, DA KZN Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development, 26 April 2020
