27/06/2024
Farm attacks and murders are terrorism and sabotage
June 26, 2024
TLU SA declares that farm killings can no longer be considered a crime, but terrorism and sabotage.
"When a farmer and his workers, or any innocent citizen is hunted down with AK47s and R4 or R5 assault rifles and shot in cold blood, we realize that this is not ordinary crime, it is a terrorist attack and an act of sabotage against the country," says Bennie van Zyl, general manager of TLU SA.
"These incidents are not just a statistic that can be added by chance while the country's politicians in parliament are busy with egg dances for positions of authority," says Van Zyl. "Criminals and those awaiting trial bully each other to compete for a seat in the highest house of the land where this injustice against citizens has been ignored until now and has become commonplace."
The state has a constitutional responsibility to ensure the safety of its residents, financed by tax payments.
The recent attack on the farmer Francois Oosthuizen in KwaZulu-Natal, where he and two of his workers were attacked in their vehicle with assault rifles, can no longer simply be considered a crime. TLU SA asks: Is this not a war? Farmers, their families and workers can no longer carry out their duties to cultivate the land and produce food while he has to constantly look over his shoulder, knowing that at any moment, like so many of his predecessors, he will be just another victim of terrorist attack or sabotage can be. Self-defense is not even an option anymore because law-abiding citizens of this country are held hostage by criminals, and the SAPS' actions sometimes strengthen the criminals' hands and criminals know that they may never be found guilty.
Since 2019, the government has failed to effectively implement the National Rural Security Strategy. The serious injury of Oosthuizen, like many others, must not be dismissed as just another crime statistic. Here, a food producer was taken out of action with serious financial losses, not to mention the trauma and hospitalization that permanently changed his entire life. All this while the state remains absent.
Every commercial farmer's contribution to the nation's food supply is critical. If a farmer is eliminated, the food supply of around 2,000 people is threatened. Any responsible government will know that commercial farmers are an indispensable asset and must be protected at all costs. Food on the table is surely the greatest strategic asset of any country, and without it the country will grind to a halt.
Voters have clearly indicated that they are dissatisfied with the current government, and especially the poor security conditions. A new government of national unity will have to step in urgently, because it is unacceptable that South Africa, and specifically our farmers and their workers, suffer from security conditions.
We urgently need an effective and responsible new minister of the SAPS who will show the political will to take his task seriously, the SAPS will purge corrupt elements, including the criminals in its own ranks, ensuring that the SAPS, through effective work , now fulfills his civic responsibility by creating a safe state where citizens can live and work and that it is not this minister's job to serve an ideology or pamper crime with soft hands.
While this statement focuses on farm attacks, we recognize that crime across the country is out of control and no one is spared. The political will to address crime is largely absent. The government's constitutional responsibility to ensure crime prevention and combat has been largely absent for the past 30 years. South Africa's residents must be more purposeful from now on and consistently make their voices heard about the poor crime management of the past three decades and denounce it. Stop terror and sabotage and don't soften it to crime. This is much worse.
Post: TLU SA
