To further bolster agricultural industry association Agri SA’s efforts to protect farmers and prevent farm attacks, financial services group Santam has donated R250 000 to Agri SA’s Securitas Trust Fund.
The fund supports farming communities financially to combat crime, while raising awareness in communities.
Speaking at the Agri SA Congress, in Centurion, on Thursday, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) senior researcher Dr Johan Burger said the safety of farmers in South Africa was a constant competition for resources.
“Concepts such as police reservists and community policing forums also need to be sharpened. There is a real need for integration,” he added.
South African Police Service acting national commissioner Lieutenant General Khomotso Phahlane agreed, noting that the police could not combat crime on its own and called for collaborative efforts with farming communities.
“We admit that we have been inefficient in rural protection,” he pointed out.
Further, Burger said there was a misperception that only white people were being attacked on farms.
Meanwhile, University of South Africa Department of Police Practice Professor Rudolph Zinn said that research conducted through interviews with house robbers had revealed that when a farm attack occurs, there were on average eight attackers present.