Safety plan for Philippi farms urged
Provincial committee told of rampant crime in the area
THE legislature’s standing committee on economic opportunities, tourism and agriculture has urged the government to do more to ensure the safety of farmers in the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA).
This after farmers said they wanted to sell their land because crime had made it too risky and expensive for them to continue farming.
Yesterday, a group of farmers was invited to appear before the standing committee, to tell of the challenges they faced.
“To farm in Philippi is extremely challenging, especially with the younger generation coming in. How are we going to encourage the younger generation to stay in Philippi if its not viable,” farmer Wilfred Kohn said. It was difficult to create jobs, as it was expensive to maintain the land.
Another farmer, Phillip Hosmann, said: “It’s just become a place where you can’t really produce any produce any more, and what’s frustrating is that we have mentioned our challenges before. The first thing we do in the morning is see whether anything was stolen.”
Hosmann said that crime in the area was out of control. Farmers could no longer work in their fields at night, when it was often best to plant and harvest.
“The criminals know our farms, and nothing has been done to take those criminals and arrest them,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Cape Argus reported that farmers in the mainly vegetable-producing PHA wanted to sell their land to developers, even after the provincial government had decided to keep it as a protected area.
Mark Wiley, DA chief whip in the legislature, said that a decision had been taken to protect the land as a food-producing region. This after a concerted campaign by environmental activists to stop developers from building on the land.
Standing committee chairperson Beverley Schäfer said: “Having read all the articles about farmers who want to sell their land, it’s very disappointing. And hearing of what challenges the farmers deal with – my heart really went out to them.”
Schäfer said she would urge the national government to intervene and deal with the lawlessness there.
“We need to hold government to account, to implement a community safety plan, and I will be engaging with the provincial government as to how and when that plan can be implemented,” she said.