Having seen its members losing their lives to crime, commercial famers no longer have confidence in the competence of the South African Police Services (SAPS) and prefer to utilise private security services. AgriSA revealed this on Tuesday during the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) hearings in Johannesburg on farm murders.
AgriSA rural safety committee chairperson Kobus Breytenbach said said reliance on police for protection was at a low level. “When the SA Police Service disappoints farmers they tend to go with private security firms. In some instances they respond quicker than the police.”
Breytenbach said AgriSA had an “open door policy” with the police ministry at national and provincial level and did not encourage farmers to use private firms.
“We don’t promote private security as an organisation; that is the farming community’s own decision to make.”
He said the problem was at the lower policing levels. “Service delivery, the response time and distance from the local police station were some of the factors affecting police response”
Breytenbach observed that rural police stations were also under-resourced and their vehicles were not well-maintained.
“Trust of the police is at a low level. This is a challenge the police minister also admitted.”