TAU welcomes farm report, but...
2003-09-25 15:18
Cape Town - The Transvaal Agricultural Union has welcomed the release of the report of the independent committee of inquiry into farm attacks, but also criticised certain aspects.
The report - released by senior police at parliament on Thursday - found the attacks were not racially motivated, and pure criminal intent was behind them.
The TAU said the report confirmed a number of things, including farm attacks leading to the most murders in comparison to all other violent crimes.
Attacks on white farm dwellers were almost double the number of attacks against black farm dwellers, almost five times as many white victims were murdered compared to black victims, and the levels of violence directed against victims were unexplainably high.
The report also confirmed that more than 62% of victims were older than 40 years, and an unexplainable high percentage of victims were defenceless women.
Further, farm attacks were deliberately planned and executed with very few attacks being "on-the-spur-of-the-moment crimes", and there were more murders during farm attacks than cash-in-transit robberies.
Some attackers waited for hours
Also, the report found, generally speaking, a good relationship existed between employers and employees.
However, the TAU said it remained critical of a number of findings, including the statement that farm attacks were driven by theft.
Sufficient evidence existed that not all victims were robbed.
There was also evidence that, in some cases, the attackers waited for hours for the victims to return.
"If theft was the driving force, why would they not take what they want and leave?" the TAU asked.
There was also clear evidence of victims being tortured before being murdered, which indicated vindictiveness.
While some "deliberate inputs" by several organisations suggested such crimes were the result of ill-treatment of farm workers, the report found the majority of attackers were from metropolitan areas.
Also of concern was the ability of the criminal justice system to investigate farm attacks.
"The reported lack of investigative ability, the growing distrust in the SAPS, the reference that less than 50% of reported cases are investigated, and the fact that less than 10%of crimes terminate in a successful prosecution, are reasons for serious concern."
The TAU asked government to urgently provide an effective criminal justice system and police service to serve the community, and clearly support the farming community to protect lives and property.
The government should also recognise expenditure by farmers to improve security by providing tax relief and subsidies, said the TAU.
- SAPA