AfriForum’s Ernst Roets was interviewed on the recent Senekal Magistrate’s Court incident, with him suggesting that the actions were due to farm attacks not being considered a priority crime.
AfriForum’s Ernst Roets was interviewed on the Senekal Magistrate’s Court incident on Tuesday, 6 October 2020. In his comments, Roets suggested that the protesters’ actions were fuelled by farm killings not being considered a priority crime.
His claim was the turning point of the discussion between Roets and interviewer, Thabo Mdluli, leading to them debating law enforcement’s approach to farm attacks. Roets, on the one hand, based his opinion on Minister of Police, Bheki Cele’s September 2020 utterances that farm killings will not be acknowledged as a priority crime. Mdluli, on the other hand, based his argument on viewing and phrasing crime targeting farmers and farmworkers as rural attacks, instead of farm attacks, which he argued is what promoted the introduction of the government’s so-called Rural Security Strategy.
The two could not seem to reach common ground and stayed on opposite sides of the matter. Roets was adamant that farm killings should be considered a priority crime, adding that the Rural Security Strategy is only good on paper and a misdirection.
Watch the full interview below.
Sabelo Makhubo
s.makhubo@politicalanalysis.co.za
