Mooi River couple attacked on their farm while eating supper

A Mooi River couple were eating supper on Monday night when three unknown men stormed their farmhouse on the P18 road in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

The men demanded cash from Allen and Isla Still.

"They also assaulted a 31-year-old man and took cash as well as a Bluetooth speaker. They fled the scene on foot. The victim was taken to hospital for medical attention. A case of house robbery was opened at Mooi River police station," said KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Thembeka Mbele.

DA agriculture and rural development spokesperson in the province, Christopher Pappas, visited the couple at the Hilton Life Hospital where Allen was being treated for his injuries on Monday night.

"His face was covered in blood when I saw him being wheeled off for scans. He was conscious and did smile when I greeted him. Isla is visibly shaken and in shock," said Pappas.

"The rising violence and criminality in our farming and rural communities must be a priority for government. However, in the true uncaring fashion to which we have become accustomed, the government has not shifted resources towards addressing this scourge. The president was even recorded in 2018 as denying farm safety as an issue," he said.  

Pappas said the growing number of incidents in rural and farming communities should be a concern for all South Africans.

"Not only are we witnessing brutal attacks against our fellow citizens, but if these trends continue we are putting our food security at risk.

"While some choose to divide the country on the issue of farm and rural safety, the DA in KwaZulu-Natal has put forward solutions that can help to curb the trends. These include directly subsidising security initiatives in rural and farming communities, such as farm watches and patrols, utilising technology such as drones and licence plate recognition cameras in rural areas, categorising farm attacks and murders as hate crimes, establishing court watching briefs to track the progress of cases, and introducing properly resourced rural safety units and monitoring these through a dedicated provincial safety directorate in the police."