Mr President, apologise and take urgent action to address farm attacks and murders now

Co-sign the DA’s open letter to President Ramaphosa calling on him to apologise for denying the fact that men and women in our rural areas are living in fear while still working 24/7 to feed our country, and imploring him to take urgent action against farm attacks and murders.

Klik hier om hierdie brief in Afrikaans te onderteken.

Mr President,

In a September 2018 interview with financial news service, Bloomberg, you said that there were “no killings of … farmers in South Africa.”

In fact, farmers, farm-workers, and visitors to farms (of all races) were being killed, and are still being killed today.

These murders often involve the most terrible torture of the farmers and farm-workers, their parents, their wives, and their children.

What you said then was false.

In fact, at the time, there were 54 farmers and farm-workers who were horribly murdered on South African farms and smallholdings, and there were 394 vicious attacks.

Still today, it is four times more dangerous to be on a farm than in other area of South Africa.

In 2018 there were 394 attacks and 56 murders.

In 2019 there were 419 attacks and 56 murders.

And during lockdown, the instance of farm attacks and murders has been even higher!

We ask, Sir, that you not only retract that statement, but apologise to the men and women in our rural areas who are living in fear while still working 24/7 to feed our country.

We also continue to ask that you take urgent action against farm attacks and murders.

The Democratic Alliance, including DA Shadow Minister of State Security, Dianne Kohler Barnard MP (as seen in the video above), is taking urgent action to stop farm attacks by:   

💬 Requesting a debate of national importance in Parliament.
🚨 Reporting attacks as Hate Crimes when called for.
🕵️ Allocating a Watching Brief that closely tracks investigations and court proceedings to ensure that attackers end up behind bars.
🔬 Requesting a massive increase in research and statistics.
🚓 Improving work done with agricultural unions and assisting farm patrols.
👨‍🌾 Continuing to drive land ownership and financial support for emerging farmers.
🤝 Working on improving SAPS/farmer relationships.
👮 Continuing to push for fully outfitted, dedicated policing units to be reintroduced. 
🚔 Asking for a boost in rural SAPS investigative capacity.
🚨 Asking that SAPS re-categorise rural attacks as priority crimes.
🌾 Continuing to fight Expropriation Without Compensation at every turn.
🏠 Asking for a review of land occupation regulations.
🧾 Asking for tax relief measures for farmers paying for private security.
🕵️ Calling for greater Crime Intelligence capacity in rural areas.
🚓 Continuing to stress the need for border control.
🤝Calling for a Joint Ministerial Summit on Rural Safety.

Mr President, apologise to South Africa’s farmers and farm-workers, and take urgent action to address this crisis.

Only then will they begin to feel like valued members of this Strategic Asset in our country, as they continue to work, day and night, to feed our great nation.

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Klik hier om hierdie brief in Afrikaans te onderteken.

Mr President,

In a September 2018 interview with financial news service, Bloomberg, you said that there were “no killings of … farmers in South Africa.”

In fact, farmers, farm-workers, and visitors to farms (of all races) were being killed, and are still being killed today.

These murders often involve the most terrible torture of the farmers and farm-workers, their parents, their wives, and their children.

What you said then was false.

In fact, at the time, there were 54 farmers and farm-workers who were horribly murdered on South African farms and smallholdings, and there were 394 vicious attacks.

Still today, it is four times more dangerous to be on a farm than in other area of South Africa.

In 2018 there were 394 attacks and 56 murders.

In 2019 there were 419 attacks and 56 murders.

And during lockdown, the instance of farm attacks and murders has been even higher!

We ask, Sir, that you not only retract that statement, but apologise to the men and women in our rural areas who are living in fear while still working 24/7 to feed our country.

We also continue to ask that you take urgent action against farm attacks and murders.

The Democratic Alliance, including DA Shadow Minister of State Security, Dianne Kohler Barnard MP (as seen in the video above), is taking urgent action to stop farm attacks by:   

💬 Requesting a debate of national importance in Parliament.
🚨 Reporting attacks as Hate Crimes when called for.
🕵️ Allocating a Watching Brief that closely tracks investigations and court proceedings to ensure that attackers end up behind bars.
🔬 Requesting a massive increase in research and statistics.
🚓 Improving work done with agricultural unions and assisting farm patrols.
👨‍🌾 Continuing to drive land ownership and financial support for emerging farmers.
🤝 Working on improving SAPS/farmer relationships.
👮 Continuing to push for fully outfitted, dedicated policing units to be reintroduced. 
🚔 Asking for a boost in rural SAPS investigative capacity.
🚨 Asking that SAPS re-categorise rural attacks as priority crimes.
🌾 Continuing to fight Expropriation Without Compensation at every turn.
🏠 Asking for a review of land occupation regulations.
🧾 Asking for tax relief measures for farmers paying for private security.
🕵️ Calling for greater Crime Intelligence capacity in rural areas.
🚓 Continuing to stress the need for border control.
🤝Calling for a Joint Ministerial Summit on Rural Safety.

Mr President, apologise to South Africa’s farmers and farm-workers, and take urgent action to address this crisis.

Only then will they begin to feel like valued members of this Strategic Asset in our country, as they continue to work, day and night, to feed our great nation.