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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) strongly condemns the recent attack on an elderly farmer and his family in Boston in the Midlands on Wednesday afternoon.

The man is in hospital recovering from near fatal injuries. The DA extends its best wishes for a speedy recovery to both him and his family and we also call for the trauma counselling they will need.

At this stage, no arrests have been made and the attempted murderers are out on the streets. The DA trusts that SAPS will put every effort into finding the perpetrators and bringing them to book.

This latest horrific attack has brought the total number of farm attacks in the province to four in just 10 days.
Regrettably, with the festive season around the corner it is likely that such incidents will be on the rise.

The DA reiterates it’s call to KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala, Agriculture MEC, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, and the provincial Police Commissioner to take the following urgent proactive steps to halt rural crime:

• Increase SAPS’ capacity with immediate effect, particularly in areas identified as hotspots;
• Assign a specialised SAPS task force to investigate rural attacks so that such crimes are solved efficiently and speedily and increased tensions are avoided and;
• Work closely with security companies, farmers, and farm workers to curb crime levels.

The time to act is now. Our province’s rural communities can no longer be left at the mercy of criminals.

Issued by DA KZN Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development Martin Meyer