The Democratic Alliance (DA) has said that it will start reporting farm murders as hate crimes. This was according to a statement released by MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard.
Kohler-Barnard said in her statement that there had been a significant increase in the number of attacks since the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown. She also noted that ‘brutal torture’ was a common feature of these attacks, especially in rural areas. The party was also calling for a debate on the issue in Parliament.
In order to combat the scourge of farm attacks and farm murders, Kohler-Barnard said the DA would be implementing a number of measures.
These would include:
- Referring to farm murders as hate crimes where appropriate;
- Improving interaction with agricultural unions;
- Encouraging a healthy relationship between farmers and the SAPS;
- Lobbying for increased support for emerging farmers;
- Lobbying for farm murders to be ‘Priority’ crimes; and
- Opposing the amendments to the Constitution that weaken property rights.
Farm murders have been a divisive issue in South Africa for some time. Some claim that they are simply normal crimes and point to the small number of farmers murdered as a proportion of total murders. Conversely, others note that the murder of farmers is far higher than their proportion of the population, as well as pointing out the brutal way in which farmers are often attacked, to show that it is a serious issue.