Agri Eastern Cape has condemned the recent incidents of violence and murder on farms in the province.
It said it was alarming that South Africa has become a lawless country, where innocent citizens are brutally attacked and murdered.
Agri Eastern Cape was commenting on the recent attack on 63-year old farmer Bill Gravett, of Addo, who survived his ordeal. Four suspects were arrested in connection with that incident.
However, another farmer and contractor, Des Krause, was shot dead on Tuesday on his farm Summerpride 1 at Kei Bridge.
The assailants who shot and stabbed Krause to death are still at large.
Agri Eastern Cape president, Doug Stern has again urged the South African Police Service to do everything possible to bring farm murderers to book after a spate of farm attacks in the country recently.
“On behalf of the farmers in the Eastern Cape, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims. We appeal to the South African Police Services to mobilise the entire force, and all their available manpower to investigate these atrocious and brutal crimes, to get these perpetrators/murderers prosecuted, convicted, and jailed,” he said in a statement.
“Our rural communities are vulnerable, and we feel that too little is being done to protect our farming fraternity, as well as our farm workers. Our rural communities across South Africa, cannot just live on their farms, and continuously live in fear for their lives,” Stern said.
He said, “we owe it to all South African to live in a crime free society.”
Stern said Agri Eastern Cape wants to reiterate its plea to the SAPS to immediately establish specialised rural safety units in the rural farming areas adding that Police Minister Bheki Cele must endeavour to eradicate this scourge of violent crime within rural communities.
