The SA Police Service (SAPS) has been under fire for the problematic state of Rural Safety. This as the Police Committee has earmarked it as a priority.
National Police commissioner, Khehla Sitole, says criminals are shifting their operations from urban to rural areas. He says criminals use farms to hide the manufacturing of drugs.
“There is a shift in from the urban side of the country into rural side. More strategic criminals are moving to rural areas and the shift requires the review of training, so we need to train those members differently.”
Sitole appeared before Parliament’s Police committee to discuss SAPS’ implementation of their Rural Safety Plan.
AgriSA says it is concerned over the repeated attacks on farmers. Spokesperson Tommie Esterhuyse says that in a study the organisation had commissioned in 2017, it shows the cost of crime has is more than R5 billion.
“Study reveals that 32% of farmers experienced crime in recent three years, direct cost of crime is R5.54 billion. The total replacement cost due to agriculture crimes is R2.28 billion and the total crime related cost for agri is R7.7 billion. Report reveals the reality of SA commercial farmers is being repeated victims of various crimes.”
The African Farmers Association called on the police to urgently improve the training of police who deal with stock theft. “Animals in rural area is the bank of a rural dweller. Stock theft officer selection? What criteria? What training? Basic training? They don’t understand dynamics of rearing animals, most of the time when we go to courts, facts are not well represented, police statements are full of loop holes, also magistrates don’t know value of animals.”
The Divisional Commissioner of Visible Policing, Lieutenant General Sharon Japhta, says they are working to improve cooperation with communities.
The Police minister, Bheki Cele, called for communities to work together, to prevent incidents of crime.
“When someone puts another person in a coffin while still alive and nobody says anything, It’s a problem because that is what causes conflict in communities… I think we have to deracialise the issue of the farming community. It’s an issue of the farming community dying, not the white farming community.”
