Farmers prefer using private security firms

Following the release of the annual crime statics report for South Africa, the news took a look at figures in the Muldersdrift area.

A decline in most subcategories of crime was noted in comparison with last year’s figures and some owe that to less crimes being reported to the local police.

Instead they say farmers rely on private security companies when it comes to fighting crime.

In a recent study AgriSA found that farmers prefer making use of private security services because they did not trust the SAPS.

Chairperson of AgriSA’s rural safety committee, Kobus Breytenbach says, “When the police disappoints farmers, they tend to go with private security firms. In some instances they respond quicker than the police.”

He, however, says that AgriSA has an open-door policy with the police ministry at both national and provincial level, and encourages farmers to make use of private companies.

The organisation also believed government had prioritised violence on farms.

He says, “We don’t promote it as an organisation, that is the farming community’s own decision to make.”

But the problem, he says, is at the lower policing levels; issues included service delivery, response time, and the distance from the local police station.

Breytenbach adds that rural police stations did not have sufficient resources; neither were their vehicles well-maintained.

“Trust of the police is at a low level. This is a challenge the police minister also admitted,” he says.

Meanwhile, former cabinet minister and commissioner of the Human Rights Commission, Dr Leon Wessels, says perhaps a new kind of policing was required, particularly for farm attacks, as suggested by farmers hiring private security.

He says it is possibly because communication with private security was simpler and patrols were coordinated, but police patrolled at unexpected hours.

Three issues relating to farm attacks have been highlighted:

• the loss of confidence in police visibility

• the availability or response time of police during a crisis

• the ‘half-hearted’ efforts police made during investigations

Breytenbach, using his personal experience, says when he reported stock theft on his farm, a female police investigator arrived wearing high heels.

Deputy Director of the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (Psira), Philani Mthethwa, says there is also 200 000 police officers versus about 485 000 active security guards. This number did not include inactive security guards.

Just under half of the active security guards carried firearms. However, Mthethwa adds that security guards’ roles were limited because they did not have equal powers to police officers. They deterred rather than reacted.

Previously, AfriForum complained that the police was not doing enough to protect farming communities, with 91 attacks and 42 murders on farms since January.