Bheki Cele: Police and farming communities need to work together to curb killings
Deputy minister of agriculture, and former police chief Bheki Cele says farmers, farmworkers, security personnel and police need to work together to curb crime on farms.
Speaking to the Complimentary Breakfast, General Cele said murder-rate on farms is a serious matter.
"Farm killings did go down at a certain point when I was Police Commissioner, as we used aerial surveillance as well as patrols in farming communities," Cele says.
He adds that the availability of equipment like police vehicles is imperative in fighting crime.
"Farmers and farmworkers play a vital role in South Africa when it comes to food security and thus you will hear my voice loud and clear when it comes to protecting these communities," Cele says.
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Cele also expressed concern over the levels of brutality that accompany crime on farms.
"We did try by implementing a comprehensive farm safety plan but one element that is lacking is the relationship between farmers and farmworkers. These relationships contribute to these kinds of killings," Cele says.
He conceded that more needs to be done by the department of agriculture and the deputy police minister.
"I hope that we can be more pro-active and mobolise communities along these areas to work together to create some preventative measures," he says.