‘Help fight crime affecting farmers’

South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR) yesterday said the government should take swift action in addressing crimes in the agricultural sector, which cost it more than R7 billion last year.

According to the institute, the sector continued to be threatened by a volatile security situation.

“AgriSA’s recently released report on crimes affecting farms is a timely call to appreciate the scale of the criminal threat to the farming sector and to take appropriate action,” said IRR project manager Terence Corrigan.

The report, based on a survey of agriculturalists affiliated to AgriSA’s provincial bodies, showed that 70% of farms had experienced some form of crime in 2017. Stock theft was the most common, followed by the theft of infrastructure and equipment.

IRR said about 25% had experienced robbery, a crime that is frequently associated with violence. The survey also found that a third of respondents claimed an increase in crime over the past three years.

“AgriSA’s survey is an invaluable attempt to quantify the perilous situation under which farming households exist,” said Corrigan. “This applies to all farming communities, farmers, and their employees of every race. Too often, voices both in the state and in society, not least the president, have tried to play this down. It deserves to be acknowledged for the very real and debilitating problem it is.”

Corrigan said most farmers did not report all the crimes committed to the authorities.

“The results here suggest a sense of alienation and frustration on the part of many farmers, reporting crime would be a pointless exercise, there is nothing that the police could do, and so on.” – ANA