Bheki Cele misleads the public about farm murders

AfriForum accused the deputy minister of agriculture, Bheki Cele, of misleading the public about the reality on South Africa’s farms, and that he does not seriously consider the plea of those who call for the prioritisation of farm murders. This follows after Cele was questioned this morning during a press conference on farm murders, to which he responded that people should stop making a racial issue of farm murders.

Ernst Roets, deputy CEO of AfriForum, said Cele uses this tactic to evade the true extent of the crisis. “Instead of recognising the need to prioritise farm murders, a false accusation of racism is made.”

Roets explained that it rather seems as though the government is looking through racial glasses at farm murders and for that reason is not prepared to take any action. “The hard facts are that the majority of farmers who are being murdered, are white. Whether it is simply because most farmers are white, or because there is an underlying racial motive, will at this stage amount to speculation. We know, however, that black farmers and farm workers are also murdered during farm attacks.”

Roets added that AfriForum does not distinguished along racial lines when they are asking for farm murders to be prioritised, and that AfriForum even wrote to the president about black farm workers who are being murdered in farm attacks.

“The problem, however, is that the prioritisation of farm murders apparently does not fit within the ruling party’s political agenda. If the government uses the necessary resources and displays the necessary political leadership, farm murders will stop. What happens in practice is the opposite of this – farmers are used as political punching bags and cutting remarks are made against those who call for the prioritisation of farm murders.”