Ermelo farm attack: How many more must suffer and die before government acts?

Ermelo farm attack: How many more must suffer and die before government acts?

By BRIAN KAJENGO

DA in Mpumalanga has many questions for about how many more rural people must suffer and die in brutal farm attacks before government and the police take it seriously enough to deploy specialised rural safety units.

Anthony Bernadie said, “Merely days after Mr JR Buhrman was found murdered on his farm house near Ermelo on Monday morning, Mr Edward de Villiers and his wife Ina were brutally attacked and tortured on their farm between Ermelo and Amsterdam. Both have been hospitalised with severe burns inflicted by boiling water and a clothes iron.”

 DA says I t is more than a year since premier DD Mabuza publicly expressed his support for increased policing in our rural areas and the establishment of rural safety units, and to date, the premier has made no visible effort to deliver on his constitutional mandate to provide a safe and secure environment to our people.

 “How many more people must die on our farms before rural safety is taken seriously? How many more farm workers must lose their jobs when their employers shut up shop and stop producing crops and livestock?” Benardie asked.

The DA told Bvunzamutupo that it will once again write to premier Mabuza and provincial police commissioner Lt Gen Thulani Ntobela and ask them these same questions, and remind them of their sworn oaths to uphold the constitution and guarantee the safety of our citizens.

 “Government must stop talking and protect or rural communities, protect their jobs, and put their security first.” Benardie said.