Farm Murders: When will you speak up, Mister President?
30 June 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to tell South Africa what his government will be doing to address the long-ignored and again increasing numbers of farm attacks and farm murders. Or is he going to continue to pretend that they are not happening, as he did in an infamous 2018 interview?
Since the DA requested a debate of national importance in the National Assembly last week, there has not been a peep from the side of government indicating that it is paying this problem any attention. Unfortunately, this is not out of character for a government that likes to praise farmers when they need them but is never forthcoming with assistance of any kind to the farming community when it is in crisis.
It is as if farmers and farm workers have been declared persona non grata. They are needed to ensure food security but is left to try and solve any and all problems they might encounter on their own.
According to the African Centre for Food Security the underlying issue of food insecurity is contributing to the spike in crimes on farms. Millions of poor South Africans are in despair due to the continued Covid-19 lockdown and ill-conceived regulations.