Latest news with #NationalRuralSafetyStrategy
IOL News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Police Minister Mchunu clarifies rural safety strategy while addressing crime statistics
Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu said on Friday that there is no genocide against white farmers Image: GCIS Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu on Friday firmly rejected claims of a genocide against white farmers in South Africa. This comes as crime statistics from the fourth quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year, covering the period from 1 January 2025 to 31 March 2025, indicated six farm-related attacks with attacks not being on race. Mchunu said that the National Rural Safety Strategy was designed to create a safe and secure environment in rural areas. 'In the fourth quarter, six attacks on rural communities were recorded. We do not categorise people by race, but in the context of claims of 'genocide of White people', we need to unpack the killings in this category. 'The two farm owners that were murdered during the fourth quarter were African and not White. Further to that, the two farm employees and one farm manager were also African – it is the one farm dweller that was White. 'The history of farm murders in the country has always been distorted and reported in an unbalanced way; the truth is that farm murders have always included African people in more numbers.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Mchunu added that the government wanted to reject the notion of 'land grabbing' in the country. Instead, he confirmed that there were cases of land invasions, but said the two were very different. 'Land invasions are not government policy, but are by and large, acts of desperation for land by African people who find themselves landless and in need to settle. It is sporadic and it remains unlawful,' he said. Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), said that the South African farming sector or farming community was not under siege. 'The country has devastating crime incidents, which should remain a major worry for all,' he said. 'However, it is necessary to state that there is no land expropriation without compensation in the country, that the recent Expropriation Act has been massively misrepresented, and that property rights remain intact. Land Reform is still under the market principles of the willing buyer-willing seller.' Jaco Minnaar, president of Agri SA, said it was good that Mchunu reverted to the National Rural Safety Strategy, which was developed with farmers. 'The problem is the implementation, which is not currently on track, as well as the lack of necessary resources allocated to it,' he said. 'AgriSA and other role players are in the process to address this with the minister and SAPS, and hope with the spotlight now on it, we will make progress. We are glad that our government realised it as a big concern, together with crime as a whole in SA, and we will assist as far as possible to help address the issue.' Francois Rossouw, CEO of Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai), welcomed Mchunu's recognition of farm attacks in the official crime statistics. 'However, the figure of only six attacks for the quarter must be viewed with caution. Many rural crimes go unreported, under-recorded, or misclassified due to inconsistent definitions and weak rural policing infrastructure,' he said. 'We take note of the Minister's distinction between land invasions and land grabs, but in practice, the line between the two is increasingly blurred. The lack of consequences for illegal land occupations and weak enforcement emboldens those who target farms. That alone undermines confidence in the government's commitment to the rule of law in rural areas.' Visit:
The South African
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The South African
Most farm murder victims in South Africa are BLACK
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has moved to correct what he describes as a longstanding misrepresentation in the reporting of farm murders in South Africa, stating that black victims have historically included the majority of the affected. 'The history of farm murders in the country has always been distorted and reported in an unbalanced way; the truth is that farm murders have always included African people in more numbers,' Mchunu said. Mchunu made the remarks, when he was presenting the fourth quarter crime statistics of the previous financial year (1 January 2025 – 31 March 2025) in Pretoria, on Friday. The report showed a notable decrease in farm attacks, with six incidents recorded in the fourth quarter, compared to 12 in the previous quarter. The victims included two farm owners, two farm employees, one farm manager, and one farm dweller. While the South African Police Service (SAPS) does not categorise crime statistics by race, Mchunu addressed the racial aspect in response to recent claims of a 'white genocide' in the country. 'The two farm owners that were murdered during the fourth quarter were African and not white. Further to that, the two farm employees and one farm manager were also African – it is the one farm dweller that was white. 'Last quarter, we reported that a total of 12 farm murders had been reported, with one farm owner having been murdered. 'Notable progress has been made in respect of investigations into these cases, and a number of arrests have been made,' Mchunu said. Mchunu reiterated the SAPS's commitment to prioritising all types of crimes with urgency; as well as to conduct thorough investigations to ensure that justice is ultimately served. He further highlighted the government's commitment to the National Rural Safety Strategy, which aims to create a safe and secure environment in rural areas. 'We have appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee multiple times to account for our efforts. The National Rural Safety Strategy is designed to create a safe and secure environment in rural areas, and we are committed to fully implementing it. 'As from this year, when we release the first quarter results, we will include a number of other categories of crime in the country, to show a fuller picture. For an example, killings in rural and urban areas, instead of just on commercial farms, but for now, our statistics are based on commercial farms,' the Minister said. Mchunu also sought to dispel misconceptions about so-called 'land grabbing' in South Africa. While confirming that land invasions do occur, he rejected the notion that they reflect government policy. 'Land invasions are not government policy but are by and large acts of desperation for land by African people who find themselves landless and in need to settle. It is sporadic and it remains unlawful, hence the cases and investigations thereof,' he explained. Mchunu stressed that the policy of expropriation without compensation is a lawful and systematic effort to resolve the issue of landlessness. 'My colleague in the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, [Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso], has expressed concern about the misuse of the term 'land grab' and will provide further clarification next week,' Mchunu said. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
Police minister: Most farm murder victims have historically been black
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has moved to correct what he describes as a longstanding misrepresentation in the reporting of farm murders in South Africa, stating that black victims have historically made up the majority. 'The history of farm murders in the country has always been distorted and reported in an unbalanced way; the truth is that farm murders have always included African people in more numbers,' Mchunu said. Mchunu made the remarks while presenting the fourth-quarter crime statistics for the previous financial year (January 1 – March 31, 2025) in Pretoria earlier today. The report showed a notable decrease in farm attacks, with six incidents recorded in the fourth quarter, compared to 12 in the previous quarter. According to the statistics, the victims included two farm owners, two farm employees, a farm manager and a farm dweller. While SAPS does not categorise crime statistics by race, Mchunu addressed the racial aspect in response to recent claims of a 'white genocide' in the country. 'The two farm owners that were murdered during the fourth quarter were African and not white. Further to that, the two farm employees and one farm manager were also African – it is the one farm dweller that was white. 'Last quarter, we reported that a total of 12 farm murders had been reported, with one farm owner having been murdered. Notable progress has been made in respect of investigations into these cases, and a number of arrests have been made,' Mchunu said. He reiterated the SAPS's commitment to prioritising all types of crime and to conducting thorough investigations to ensure that justice is served. Mchunu highlighted the government's commitment to the National Rural Safety Strategy, which aims to create a safe and secure environment in rural areas. 'We have appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee multiple times to account for our efforts. The National Rural Safety Strategy is designed to create a safe and secure environment in rural areas, and we are committed to fully implementing it. 'As from this year, when we release the first quarter results, we will include a number of other categories of crime in the country, to show a fuller picture. For example, killings in rural and urban areas, instead of just on commercial farms, but for now, our statistics are based on commercial farms,' the minister said. 'No land grabbing in the country' Mchunu also sought to dispel misconceptions about so-called 'land grabbing' in South Africa. While confirming that land invasions do occur, he rejected the notion that they reflect government policy. 'Land invasions are not government policy but are by and large acts of desperation for land by African people who find themselves landless and in need to settle. It is sporadic and it remains unlawful, hence the cases and investigations thereof,' he explained. Mchunu stressed that the policy of expropriation without compensation is a lawful and systematic effort to resolve the issue of landlessness. 'My colleague in the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, [Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso], has expressed concern about the misuse of the term 'land grab' and will provide further clarification next week,' Mchunu said. – Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
