Farming union says govt. ‘unable or unwilling’ to ensure safety

Agricultural and farming union TLU has lambasted the government for being either “unwilling or unable” to ensure the safety of its citizens.

“We experience the South African government’s inability to protect us in every aspect of society,” said Henry Geldenhuys, the TLU national president. “South Africans aren’t safe at home, at work, on holiday, in cities, towns, rural areas or on farms.”

Farmers bear the brunt

Geldenhuys said most people in the country were living in fear, with targeted and vulnerable groups like farmers bearing the brunt.

“Farmers are on the proverbial front line in the war against crime in South Africa,” he stated in a media release published on the union’s website.

According to the statement, the TLU is now working on proposed policy changes that will allow safety and security expenses to be totally tax-deductible.

Improve crime-fighting

“TLU SA demands that crime-fighting efforts be radically improved, to such an extent that all South Africans will be safe anywhere in the country.  If it cannot handle this task efficiently, the government should outsource the management of this basic state responsibility,” Geldenhuys said.

He added that the union would therefore support legislation which affords South Africans the basic right of ensuring their own safety and security.

“We urge all South Africans fed up with the government’s inability to guarantee our safety, to support this project,” he stated.

Time to protect ourselves

“Fellow South Africans who do not understand our predicament should wake up. Those overseas blind to the facts due to the government’s false international propaganda should take note. It is now time for us to protect ourselves,” Geldenhuys said.

In another media statement released earlier in the week in the wake of the unrest at the Senekal Magistrate’s Court, the chairman of TLU in the Free State, Bertus van der Westhuizen, said farmers would no longer be targets.

“We want to contribute. We want to build and help to build the country to the benefit of each resident. But not where farmers are like birds on a wire, and everyone shoots at them.”