It is of the utmost importance for people living in rural areas to intensify their vigilance, to be prepared for crime and to join neighbourhood watch groups and community policing forums (CPFs).
The absolute necessity of this is underscored by the recent incident in which Mrs Erika Muller from Rietkol near Sundra, who was home alone as her husband, Sampie, had left to fetch farm workers, successfully averted an attack by locking their security gates and shooting at the attackers.
There is no doubt that good communication and the shared objective of the neighbourhood watch groups in cooperation with the police have facilitated the successful prevention of more and more farm attacks in Rietkol and Sundra.
After the attack on Mrs Muller, good communication between the neighbourhood watch and the police lead to the arrest of two suspects. A third suspect was fatally wounded during a gunfight.
In a second incident that took place near Bethal on a smallholding, robbers kicked down the door of Mr Butch Goosen's house after which some shooting ensued between Mr Goosen and the attackers. Mr Goosen was wounded in the chest and was rushed to hospital. The robbers are still at large.
The FF Plus is calling on all South Africans, and farmers especially, to be prepared for any kind of crime and / or attacks that may take place and to protect themselves and their property within the constraints of the law.
Contact details: 084 652 9164 / 076 687 2830
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