Farmers unite against attacks

The brutal murder of 84-year-old Bob Gawler at his home in Glendale Heights last month sent shock waves through the farming community, with many feeling it was now time to take decisive action.

Dozens of local farmers, Farmwatch, Umhlali SAPS representatives and members of Alpha Security met at the Litchi Orchard last Thursday to discuss improving rural safety.

Farmers were from Umhlali to Upper Tongaat and Glendale.

Also read: Elderly farmer killed in Glendale Heights

Volunteers came forward to revive the former cell system, where farmers divided themselves into cell groups that stood ready to support one another in the event of an attack or break-in.

“Dogs alone provide a false sense of security for farmers. Just look at Bob’s dogs – they were completely traumatised by that attack.

“The criminals know how to deal with dogs,” said Alpha Security’s Rex Hunt.

The possibility of acquiring digital radios with panic buttons was also discussed.

The panic buttons would set of an alarm on all the other radios in the group and – importantly – for the next ten seconds everyone would be able to listen in on what was happening.

“We need better channels of communication between farmers, security companies and the police – we all need to stand together to end the plague of violent attacks on farmers and farm workers, but for this to work we need the buy-in from everyone.”

Umhlali SAPS’s Captain Vinny Pillay urged farmers to report all suspicious activity, theft, attacks and so on to the police.

“We know it can be trying sometimes, but if you do not report all these incidents the police have no way of identifying problem areas so we can allocate more resources,” he said.

Aside from the radios, the possibility of camera systems, the use of WhatsApp groups, partnership between police and farmers, alarms and more were discussed as the farmers sought a way to ensure the safety of all in the farming community.

As Hunt said: “If you do not take steps to protect yourself, there is not much SAPS or security companies can do for you.”

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