FF+ pleased with North West, Gauteng premiers' stance on farm attacks

The Freedom Front Plus said it was ironic that while the premiers of Gauteng and North West acknowledged the seriousness of farm murders and offered solutions, President Cyril Ramaphosa was still denying that there was a problem.

The FF Plus said in his state of the province address Gauteng premier David Makhura said farm attacks and murders would be treated as a priority in the province and a specialist unit would be tasked with combating this type of crime.

Party leader Pieter Groenewald said North West premier Job Mokgoro indicated that he would liaise with police and other law-enforcement agencies to combat farm attacks.

The party said it had long been advocating what the two premiers mentioned, that a safety strategy be discussed with all stakeholders, particularly police and farmers, so that a feasible plan could be tabled and implemented quickly.

“The FF Plus welcomes these statements by senior ANC politicians and officials because for decades the safety of farmers has been a matter of great concern and urgency for the party,” Groenewald said.

The party said North West was the province with the highest incidence of farm attacks in the country, while Gauteng was also affected.

“The FF Plus is willing to co-operate with the premiers in their attempt to combat farm attacks and other forms of crime.

“In the meantime, the FF Plus will continue to put pressure on the government to declare the matter a national priority and to use the recommendations of the North West as a starting point to ensure the safety of all South Africans,” Groenewald said.

AfriForum said in June that 184 farm attacks, including 20 murders, were recorded between January 1 and May 31 2019.

AfriForum said that during the five-month period most of the attacks were recorded in Gauteng (51), followed by North West (28) and Limpopo (27).