Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa on Thursday repeated government's commitment to prioritising rural safety.

Speaking in the National Assembly during debate on his budget vote, he said that the issue had been placed high on the agenda.

To address this, a comprehensive rural safety plan had been developed.

Key aspects included improving and enhancing service delivery at a local station level.

"We have recognised that rural police stations are often isolated and responsible for policing vast areas," he said.

Police visibility in rural areas would be improved and increased, and police response times would also be improved.

"We need to adopt and ensure a responsive integrated proactive and reactive policing approach to policing rural areas."

The relationships between the police, farming communities, stakeholders and extended rural communities would be improved and enhanced, as would safety awareness in rural areas.

Rural communities would be educated on safety and security matters.

Infrastructural development within the rural environment was essential to ensure equal accessibility to services and service delivery.

"To ensure full participation in this plan, we have engaged a number of stakeholders, including both farmer and farm worker organisations.

"We now need to extend this engagement to include rural communities more generally, including traditional leaders and communities not situated on farms.

"We have also called upon anyone who would want to enhance the government's safety plan to do so," Mthethwa said.