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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal again calls for the urgent introduction of specialised crime-fighting units in the province’s more rural areas following yet another farm attack at the weekend in the Paulpietersburg area.

According to reports, the incident took place on Saturday evening. Farmer Andre Claasen and his wife had just returned home when they were confronted by an attacker who aimed his firearm at Mr Claasens and pulled the trigger. Fortunately, the firearm did not go off and the couple were able to speed away to safety.

It is a miracle that the firearm did not discharge. Had this happened, we would have lost yet another farmer at the hands of increasingly organised crime syndicates.

While no one was injured in this instance, it is very clear what the perpetrator’s intention was. The DA calls on SAPS to ensure that this individual is tracked down and that he is held responsible for this.

The DA has requested time and again – through KZN Agriculture MEC, Bongiwe Sithole Moloi, and her Department – that a special task team be established to deal with ongoing attacks on our rural communities. Regrettably, our calls keep falling on deaf ears.

Farmers are critical to our survival in this country, and the attacks on them are being ignored. A specialised task team would not only create a strong presence within rural communities, it would also perform a vital role in ensuring that such attacks are prevented in the first place.

MEC Sithole-Moloi and the remainder of KZN’s ANC-run provincial cabinet can no longer stand idly by as our rural communities live in fear each and every day. They must now act and deploy the task team that is so urgently needed.

Issued by DA KZN Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development, Elma Rabe, MPL