Marc Buckner

Yesterday, I tabled a motion in the National Assembly calling for the reclassification of farm attacks as priority crimes. These attacks continue to be extremely brutal, with rural areas left increasingly vulnerable due to poor police visibility and weak investigative capacity. The motion noted that farm attacks: • Are disproportionately violent, sometimes involving torture; • Occur in remote rural locations with slow police response times; • Directly undermine food security and rural economies; • Are politicised by some radical political parties and sometimes celebrated by extremists without consequence. Without a shift toward a dedicated, intelligence-driven model, with proper investigative capacity and prosecutorial coordination, rural communities will remain exposed. Last night, I joined a community patrol with Klapmuts Farm Watch alongside the Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, and fellow Police Portfolio Committee member, Lisa Schickerling MP. What we observed confirms the systemic gaps: SAPS does not have the needed capacity and even though so willing to assist in the area, just don’t have the numbers. Volunteers are forced to fill the vacuum as there is no sustained operational presence in high-risk rural zones, no proactive strategy, and little coordination between intelligence and visible policing. It is not acceptable for to treat rural safety as an afterthought. The reclassification of farm attacks as priority crimes must come with the resources, leadership, and accountability mechanisms this crisis demands. Guess who was first to object to my motion calling for prioritising farm attacks in parliament?