Discussion gives greater momentum to eradication of rural crime

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An inclusive rural safety strategy

The initiative by police management to host a rural safety summit was welcome by Agri SA. The Acting National Commissioner emphasised the importance of agriculture and the role that the farming community plays in food production. Therefore, it is necessary that this community should be protected so that they can continue with production, he said.

Both organisations agreed that the Rural Safety Strategy supported by sector policing and reservist are crucial to deal with rural crime and has been hailed as an inclusive strategy. Agri SA requested police to focus their attention to the operationalisation of the strategy and that commanders should adhere to instructions in this regard. The announcement by police that in the longer term a rural police component will be established to deal with rural crime is in line with Agri SA’s recommendations and, therefore, welcomed.

Reservist system and police resources

A call was made to police management to enhance the roll-out of the reservist system in all provinces as this is an important force multiplier together with farm watches to stabilise rural farming areas. Mention was made of some criteria of the system, which may be too stringent for recruits to adhere to and these should be reviewed.

Agri SA raised its concerns regarding the resources available to Public Order Police Units to deal with possible farm invasions while they also have to attend to numerous violent protest actions. The police acknowledge these concerns and said that an additional amount of money was made available to increase this unit’s human capacity and other resources.

The announcement by the Acting National Commissioner that crime related statistics will in future be made available on a quarterly basis is encouraging and that will assist police to identified problem areas and to introduce the necessary measures to deal with those areas.

Back to basics

Stock theft and the impact it has on livestock farmers was discussed and Agri SA recommended to police that all vacant positions in stock theft units should be filled with competent members as soon as possible. The strict application of the Stock Theft Act is necessary and police management was requested to shorten the turnaround time of vehicles, which are to be repaired and serviced.

The renewal process of firearm licenses was tabled and Agri SA was informed that the police are busy looking at possible amendments to the act. Agri SA was encouraged to provide the police with suggestions in this regard.

The police undertook to deal with Agri SA’s recommendations and decide how it could be implemented. It was further agreed that Agri SA will be incorporated in various focus groups to discuss shortcomings in the Rural Safety Strategy and how policing models could be adjusted to combat rural crime based on the police’s Back-to-Basics Strategy. As a way forward, Agri SA will be hosting a strategic session at the end of the month, where the discussions with the police will form the basis of developing practical guidelines for the organisation to deal with this issue, which will be presented to its congress in October 2016.