Telegraph

Food shortages feared as killers target South African farmers By Jane Flanagan in Krugersdorp (Filed: 04/11/2001)

MORE than 10 white farmers per month are being murdered in South Africa in a crime spree that is undermining the agricultural industry and threatening the whole region with food shortages.

As the crisis worsens, the government is joining white farming unions in alerting the nation to the danger being posed to a crucial component of the economy.

"If you are killing the farming community, you are killing the country," Steve Tshwete, the safety and security minister, said last week.

His deputy, Joe Matthews, added: "The whole agricultural industry is affected by such crime because we have only a very small number of people feeding more than 40 million of us. I want to appeal to our government, our head of state, to place a much higher priority on combating rural crime."

The murder rate among farmers, their families and workers has been rising dramatically. More than 1,000 people have died in rural attacks during the past 10 years, and a South African farmer is twice as likely to be wounded or killed than a police officer.

The consequences are apparent in the latest figures from the department of agriculture, which show a 10 per cent reduction in the volume of farm production. All sectors are down, but the field crop sector shows the largest decline: 15 per cent.

Farm incomes have also plummeted in recent years. Last year they were £300 million, down from £800 million four years ago.

South Africa is the breadbasket for the southern half of the continent and one of the few countries in the world that is a net exporter of farm produce. Agriculture accounts for almost 10 per cent of the country's exports. Last year it exported more than £1 billion worth of cereals to surrounding countries, among them Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Congo, Angola and Mozambique.

This situation, however, is in danger of being reversed, says Werner Weber who chairs an agricultural pressure group called Action: Stop Farm Attacks. He believes that South Africa will soon become a net importer of food. Already the country has begun importing wheat.

"Exports are already dwindling because of a drop in production, and that will definitely continue if this crime epidemic is not addressed," said Mr Weber. "Commercial farmers face extinction, one in 35 of our number has already been murdered.

"Other African countries, such as Zimbabwe, are facing severe food shortages. South Africa might be in a position to help at the moment - but not for ever.

"We can import food because we can afford to, but if there is continuing instability around the world that will become a problem, and we will face starvation in southern Africa in the future."

He added: "The evidence on the ground is that we are facing the biggest crisis of our lives. Soon it is going to catch up with us."

The government says the farm killings are part of a crime wave sweeping post-apartheid South Africa. White farmers' groups, however, believe that they are being targeted by a disgruntled element among the black community copying the farm invasions by self-styled "war veterans" in Zimbabwe.

Across South Africa, farming families are taking measures to defend themselves. Many mothers and daughters attend self-defence classes to learn to use knifes and guns. Some women in rural areas conceal weapons in their handbags and underwear.

Two weeks ago, a farmer's wife and her daughter were shot dead and another daughter wounded during a daytime robbery at their home in Krugersdorp, near Johannesburg.

Lynette Jooste, 40, and her teenage girls had been taught to use two .38 revolvers and a .22 pistol, which were kept in a safe. As is often the case, however, the guns were used against them.

Last week, Eric Mhlanga, 19, whose mother had worked as the family's maid for seven years, appeared in court charged with the murders.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001