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Various civilian organisations and opposition parties today during a joint media conference in Centurion took a stance against farm murders and made a plea to the South African government to incisively intervene to prioritise this crisis.

The organisations also committed themselves to participate in the protest march against farm murders that is being planned for Saturday, 25 November, when they will march from the Pretoria Art Museum to the Union Buildings to hand a memorandum to the State President.

The organisations that were represented at this media conference include the civil rights organisation AfriForum, the trade union Solidarity, the agricultural union TAU SA, as well as the opposition parties namely the DA, the FF Plus and Cope. 

“Farm murders are a national crisis and need to be handled as such,” says Ernst Roets, Deputy CEO of AfriForum. Roets added that AfriForum does not believe that the lives of farmers and farmworkers are more important than those of other citizens, but that this community is being targeted disproportionately and that the attacks are having an exceptional impact on the country. “The uniqueness of farm murders justifies a focused counterstrategy.”

At least 80 farm murders have been committed since the beginning of the year.

The protest march will start Saturday, 25 November 2017 at 10:00 at the Pretoria Art Museum. Protestors will then march to the Union Buildings.

Issued by Afriforum