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Kwanalu

Gemeenskap se belang moet in ag geneem word | Community’s interest must be considered

English to follow:

10 November 2020

“Die gemeenskap se belang moet deur die hof in ag geneem word wanneer vermeende misdadigers aansoek doen om borg of wanneer howe gepaste vonnisse oorweeg vir beskuldigdes in plaasaanvalle” sê Tommy Esterhuyse Voorsitter van Agri SA se Sentrum van Uitnemendheid: Landelike Veiligheid. Hy het gereageer op die uitstel van die borg verrigtinge van die beskuldigdes in die Pieter Hills plaasmoord van Hennenman waartydens sy seun Eddie ernstig beseer is en tans in ‘n kritieke toestand in ‘n hospitaal is.

Esterhuyse het ook gereageer op die dood van Tebogo Machakela ‘n vee eienaar van Odendaalsrus wat tydens ‘n winkel roof gedurende Augustus 2020 ernstig beseer is en verlede week aan sy beserings beswyk het. In dié geval is die vermeende misdadigers nog nie aangekeer nie en doen hy ‘n beroep op die polisie om alles moontlik te doen om die skuldiges vas te trek en voor die hof te daag.

“Die voortslepende aanslag op die lewens van boere en plaaswerkers moet ten sterkste veroordeel word. Hierdie brutale aanvalle wat nie net boere en plaaswerkers raak nie, raak ook huishoudings en die breë gemeenskap. Plaasaanvalle bly skokkend en het ‘n traumatiese effek op die gemeenskap waarin dit plaasvind. Dit is dan ook die reg van dié gemeenskappe om op ‘n vreedsame en wetsgehoorsame wyse hulle stem te laat hoor by hof verrigtinge en howe bewus te maak van die effek van geweld en moorde op plase. Gemeenskappe moet ook die geleentheid gebruik om inligting aan die hof te voorsien wat kan lei tot straf verswaring” sê Esterhuyse.

Die minagting van wet en orde deur misdadigers het ‘n nadelige uitwerking op die wese van die landelike gemeenskap. Agri SA sê dat net soos alle landsburgers, het die boerderygemeenskap ook ‘n grondwetlike reg om beskerm te word en daarom word ‘n beroep op die regering gedoen om met oortuiging te reageer en nie afstand te doen van die handhawing van wet en orde in die landelike gebied nie.

Agri SA doen weereens ‘n beroep op die polisie om spoedeisend aandag te gee aan die hulpbronbehoeftes van die Landelike Beveiligingstrategie sodat dit effektief geïmplementeer kan word om ‘n verdere bydrae te maak tot die bekamping van landelike misdaad en die beskerming van die gemeenskap.

Wanneer boere die teiken is van misdadigers, soos in die geval van plaasaanvalle, grondbesettings en eiendomsverwante misdaad en die sake gerapporteer word, word daar van die polisie verwag om sy regsplig na te kom en die nodige ondersteuning te bied. Die blatante verontagsaming van sommige polisiebeamptes van hulle regsplig om misdaad te ondersoek kan nie geduld word nie. Lede word aangemoedig om dié beamptes uit te wys en aan die toepaslike gesagstrukture in die polisie te rapporteer sodat swak dienslewering geïdentifiseer en daarteen opgetree word. Dit word van die polisiebestuur verwag om streng op te tree teen beamptes wat hulle skuldig maak aan pligsversuim.

Navrae:

Tommie Esterhuyse

Voorsitter van Agri SA se Sentrum van Uitnemendheid: Landelike Veiligheid

Kobus Visser

Direkteur: Agri SA Landelike Veiligheid en Provinsiale Sake

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“The court must take the community’s interest into account when the alleged criminals apply for bail or when courts consider appropriate sentences for the accused in farm attack cases,” said Tommy Esterhuyse, chair of Agri SA’s Centre of Excellence: Rural Safety. He was responding to the postponement of bail hearings for the accused in the murder of Pieter Hills, a farmer in the Hennenman district, whose son, Eddie, was seriously injured during the attack and is now in a critical condition in hospital.

Esterhuyse also reacted to the death of Tebogo Machakela, a stock owner of Odendaalsrus, who was seriously injured during a store robbery in August 2020 and died of his injuries last week. In this case, the alleged criminals have not yet been arrested. Esterhuyse called on the police to do everything possible to find the perpetrators and bring them before the court.

“The unabated attacks on farmers and farmworkers must be strongly condemned. These brutal assaults affect not only farmers and farmworkers, but also households and the broader community. Farm attacks remain shocking and have a traumatic effect on the communities where they occur. Such communities also have the right to make their voices heard in a peaceful and law-abiding manner during court proceedings, and to make the courts aware of the impact of violence and murders on farms. Communities should also use the opportunity to provide the court with information that could result in harsher sentences,” said Esterhuyse.

The disregard for law and order by criminals has a negative impact on rural communities. Agri SA is of the opinion that, like all other citizens, the farming community has a constitutional right to protection, and therefore called on the government to respond with conviction and not to waiver in upholding law and order in rural areas.

Agri SA again called on the police to attend swiftly to the resource requirements, needed for the Rural Safety Strategy, so that the strategy can be effectively implemented and, so doing, further contribute towards combating rural crime and protecting the community.

When farmers are targeted by criminals, as in the case of farm attacks, land invasions and property-related crime, and such cases are reported, the police are expected to carry out their responsibilities and offer the necessary assistance. The blatant disregard on the part of some police officers to perform their duty by investigating crime, cannot be tolerated. Members are encouraged to identify these officers and report them to the relevant authority structures of the police so that poor service delivery can be identified, and action can be taken against them. The police management is expected to act strongly against officers who are found guilty of neglecting their duties.

Enquiries:

Tommie Esterhuyse

Chair of Agri SA’s Centre of Excellence: Rural Safety

Kobus Visser

Director: Agri SA Rural Safety and Provincial Affairs