media releases
m
8 August 2000
Murder of Mr Derrick Keith on his farm
I EXPRESS my shock and revulsion at the callous murder of yet another KwaZulu-Natal farmer, as he went about his routine tasks. I also express my deepest sympathy to the Keith family and friends, and indeed to the entire community of Port Edward.
Last week I told a gathering of international diplomats in Durban that the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government intends approaching the corporate private sector for funding in order to be able to obtain the best professional assistance in setting up a closely-knit Farm Watch aimed at preventing incidents of this sort. Such a Farm Watch would involve the farmers themselves, their workers, traditional communities, the police and the military. It would create a communications/security network that would deny armed bandits the space in which they currently operate.
I am also on record as calling - in the Legislature and elsewhere - for the establishment of an Elite Unit with special responsibility for farm security; which would gather the intelligence to proactively intercept farm attacks and provide instant and effective follow-up when they do occur.
Today's tragic incident gives extra urgency to the approach of my Department to the private sector. It could well be that private sector funding can be obtained for both the Farm Watch and the Elite Unit.
There are precedents for private sector support for police/security functions, notably the vehicles supplied to the Anti-hijacking Unit. Unusual times demand unusual remedies. The wave of banditry across KwaZulu-Natal (as well as other parts of the country) is quite beyond the capacity of normal police/military budgeting. The corporate sector ought to have every interest in bringing it to an end. If it is allowed to continue, every prospect of investment, economic development and profitability is likely to vanish.
It is intolerable that a tiny fraction of callous killers should be allowed to destroy the lives of innocent people and destroy the future for all of us.
[ CONTENTS ]