Increase in farm attacks feared
2003-05-13 10:37
Marietie Louw
Johannesburg - The new minimum wage for farmworkers could cause a sharp increase in farm attacks, says Lita Fourie, founder of Tabita, an organisation offering aid to farm-attack victims.
The organisation, founded two months ago, not only tries to help victims in dire straits, but also helps to arrange funerals for those killed.
Fourie says the minimum wage has already caused a number of farmworkers to be retrenched, which could lead to attacks.
"People who have lost their jobs could hold the farmers responsible and plot revenge."
Fourie spent two years planning the establishment of Tabita after her parents, John and Bina Cross, were murdered in 2001 on their farm, Cottondale, between Gravelotte and Tzaneen in Limpopo.
The attackers were waiting for the couple when they arrived home from church on Sunday evening. They were tortured before being shot dead.
Have many, varied needs
Fourie said: "After that, I left my job to reach out to victims of farm attacks."
She said farm-attack victims had a variety of needs. "Many of the farmers do not have medical aids, or have exhausted them."
Others can't meet funeral costs, and some don't even know how to institute legal proceedings.
Fourie said many were in dire straights.
"A woman in Limpopo hadn't insured her stolen possessions. The organisation supported her, even donating some clothing.
- Beeld