Each farm murder costs SA R1.93m a year

Every farm murder or attack costs South Africa's economy R1.93 million a year, the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) says.

It said in a statement this figure was based on the annual contribution of the agricultural sector to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

"Using the nominal GDP figure for 2009 of R2.4 trillion, a 3.22 percent contribution of agriculture to GDP and an estimate of 39,982 farms (as at 2007) in South Africa, the cost of a murder/attack on a farm, to the economy, was R1,932,869 per annum," Sacci said.

"This estimate assumes a permanent loss of the farming unit.

"Assuming that there is only a temporary loss of productivity of the farming unit, the loss to GDP is an estimated R161 072 per month."

Sacci said this was a modest, conservative approach to the impact of farm attacks on economic output.

"It is by no means a comprehensive estimate of economic impact of the attacks on farms or the direct, indirect and opportunity costs of such farm attacks."

It said its estimates did not factor in different types of farming (opting to use rather a standardised measure), the impact on domestic food security, the repercussions for the competitiveness of the South African agricultural sector, the impact on job security, and the opportunity cost of discouraged potential farmers.

"This calculation also assumes that all farming units contribute equally towards GDP and that the attack and/or murder always results in a productivity impact/down-time at the farm."

Sacci said these costs impeded South Africa's currently modest recovery from the global economic crisis.

"They constitute a hidden, but significant negative impact on small and medium sized enterprises in particular, and add to the cost of doing business.

"Sacci believes that it is imperative that the causes of the attacks and murders are immediately addressed, not only on moral and legal grounds, but also in the national economic interest."

Sacci said it would talk to the relevant authorities about developing strategies to curtail the alarming trend in farm attacks.