SA agri industry reacts to latest crime statistics

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"In contact crimes, particularly murder, we have recorded a halving the case increase trend in the past three years," said Cele. "In 2017/18 the case difference was 1,320, in 2018/19 the difference was 686 and in 2019/20 we recorded a case difference of 303. Equally, on the 17 community reported crimes, we recorded a noticeable decrease of 2,7% as compared to an increase of 0,7 % last year."

Stock theft and property crimes

"Another crime category worth mentioning is that of stock theft which showed an increase in the past three years. Last year we made a commitment to deploy intervention measures in this regard which proved to be yielding positive results. Hence, stock theft has showed a decrease of 4,2 %. I always argue that the same resources that are deployed to fight aggravated robberies, must equally be channelled to address stock theft as this is regarded as a serious crime to the rural economy."

Cele also reported that property related crimes recorded a significant decrease. According to him, all crimes in this category, including burglaries at residential premises, showed a major decrease. According to the report property crimes declined by 6,7%. Furthermore, robberies at residential properties also showed a decrease of 5,8%.

Provincial statistics

"The dominating provinces particularly with regard to murder and rape, are KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, and the Western Cape. For the first time in many years Nyanga Police Station recorded a 36% decrease in murder. Even last year there was a decrease. We are indeed turning the tide against crime.

"Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about KZN. This province recorded the highest number of murders out of all the nine provinces, which increased by 10,6%. KZN also recorded an increase in sexual offences and trio crimes. Operational interventions are in place to stabilise the province."

Firearms amnesty

Cele also announced that Parliament has approved the new firearms amnesty period which commenced on 1 August 2020. He said that the proliferation of illegal firearms remains a major contributor to crime levels in the country. The 2019 firearms amnesty that commenced on 1 December 2019 was meant to run until the end of May 2020, but due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the amnesty period severely affected the SAPS’s ability to effectively reduce the amount of illegally possessed firearms in circulation.

Cele said that in the previous amnesty period, 44,033 firearms and 246,060 rounds of ammunition were surrendered. Over 19,000 new applications with regard to expired licenses were received. Click here to access the 2019/20 crime statistics.

Comments from agri industry

Following the announcement of the 2019/20 crime statistics, both Agri SA and TLU SA commented on the decline in crime that was reported. In a press release, Tommie Esterhuyse, chair of Agri SA’s Centre of Excellence: Rural Safety, said that "the crime statistics do not reflect the sense of insecurity experienced by the farming community." Esterhuyse highlighted the fact that "farm attacks and murders, as well as the high levels of property-related crime, have brought the mood virtually to breaking point."

Agri SA commented that "it is disturbing that, according to the police, 49 farm murders occurred during the 2019/2020 financial year. This is 49 murders too many and has deprived the country of strategic skills in the agricultural sector and robbed it of the expertise that is so sorely needed to contribute towards economic growth and food security. Murders in general have increased by 37% since 2011/2012. The murder figure for the 2019/2020 financial year was 1,4% higher than the previous year, which means that murders have been escalating in South Africa for the past eight years."

The press release also highlighted that two of the so-called trio-crimes, namely business robberies and vehicle hijackings, further increased during the past year by 3,3% and 13,3%, respectively. Home robberies, however, declined by 5,8% compared to the previous year but are still 26% higher than the figure for 2011/2012. These are crimes experienced by farming communities daily and which detract from their quality of life.”

Focus on farm attacks

TLU SA also responded with comments after the statistics were announced. "TLU SA’s statistics regarding farm attacks do not correspond with the statistics the minister of police presented. According to the department, there were only 46 farm attacks during 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020, while TLU SA’s statistics show that there were 410 farm attacks between 1 March 2019 and 28 February 2020." The statistics for murders on farms more or less correspond with the department’s 49.

The deputy general manager of TLU SA,major general Chris van Zyl (ret), said: "We possess trusted statistics about farm attacks, and it never corresponds with the official statistics of the department. We do agree that there was an increase in farm attacks and murders since last year, it is only the numbers that differ." The press release emphasised that "the statistics of TLU SA for 2018/19 shows 356 farm attacks to the 410 attacks of last year. The department showed an increase from 47 attacks to 49."

"Though we are dissatisfied with the difference in statistics, we are more concerned about the new attack trends we are picking up," said Van Zyl. "Kidnapping is increasingly becoming part of attacks on farms." TLU SA is also concerned about the higher number of attackers per attack. It seems to point to organised crime attacking farms.