AfriForum exposes police negligence re farm attacks at flash conference
AfriForum today launched a report wherein serious negligence of police officers regarding the investigations of farm attacks is exposed. Various victims of farm attacks attended the event and explained how their rights have been infringed as a result of bad police work.
One of the victims, Bernadette Hall told how two attackers were found not guilty by the court. This, after she identified them during an identification parade as the murderers of her husband. Damning forensic evidence was not followed up by police.
The report has been compiled by Nantes Kelder, the Head of the Investigation Unit of AfriForum. “The statements written by detectives in the farm attack dockets I’ve investigated are of such poor quality that cases were sometimes withdrawn. There are still good policemen in our midst, and communities need to take care of them and support them in the tough job they have to do,” Kelder said.
The Community Safety Department of AfriForum also released a Manual for Victim Empowerment, compiled by the head of this department, Reg Crewe. The manual covers various aspects regarding the process that should be followed after a crime, including processes at the crime scene, taking of statements as well as giving testimony before a court. This manual will be distributed to the local branches of AfriForum as well as hundreds of community safety networks across South Africa.
“Communities need to be aware of police procedures on and after crime scenes. Knowledge is power and victims need to empower themselves now. We hope that this victim empowerment training manual will give people useful information and create hope,” Crewe said.
The report forms part of the complaint that was recently submitted by AfriForum to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). AfriForum again appealed to the Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa to change his attitude towards farm murders and to treat it as a priority.