F State prevents farm attacks

2005-03-18 15:03

Bloemfontein - Twenty-two possible farm attacks were prevented due to a reliable information-gathering project runned by Free State Agriculture, said the province?s commercial farmers body.

To help the project further, the Agri Securitas Trust Fund had donated money to the project, said the Trust on Thursday.

Trust chairman Japie Grobler said: "The information gathered and co-ordinated by the department have definitely helped to save the lives of various farmers, farm workers and their families."

The Trust, managed by the national commercial farmers body Agri SA, was established to help farmers raise funds for rural security issues.

'Agri Securitas supports the project'

The service in the Free State operates specifically to prevent the murder of farmers and farm workers by obtaining reliable information in advance.

Grobler said: "Given the success of the project, Agri Securitas decided to financially support the project further."

"Every life that is saved makes it worthwhile."

To a lesser extent the project assisted police and also provided information to solve cases to ensure the perpetrators were arrested and prosecuted for their crimes.

Grobler said: "The Agri Securitas Trust Fund's chief objective was to prevent farm attacks in a proactive manner and save lives. This project supports the aim of the fund."

'Good co-operation with police'

The primary sources of information were the farmer and his workers.

The information was passed on to Free State Agriculture, which refers it to the information service to follow up.

All information and actions were handled and followed up strictly in co-operation with the local police.

Grobler said: "Good co-operation with police was probably the reason why the service was so successful in combating farm attacks."

He said the service could also only be successful if sufficient funds were available.

- SAPA