
Free State Agriculture (FSA) met with the Free State MEC of Community Safety, Mr Mbalula as well as the MEC of Agriculture, Ms Rockman, on 22 August 2024 regarding the safety and increased crime experienced by all border communities and border farmers on the RSA/Lesotho border. Also at the meeting were delegations from the SAPS top structure, the SANDF, Border Management Authority (BMA) and House of Traditional Leaders.
FSA’s presentation focused on the high crime areas which have been such areas for several years, with illegal transit routes into Lesotho being exploited by criminals to commit a variety of crimes. According to Francois Wilken, president of FSA, problems experienced include livestock theft, cross-border grazing, as well as the appearance of Basotho’s and their animals – which are not branded – which occur in many border towns’ common lands. MEC Mbalula plans to visit the border areas soon in order to hold discussions with farming communities in all the border towns.
Wilken confirmed that practical safety aspects were highlighted which will also be transferred to the SAPS’s National Safety Summit which will take place on 28 and 29 August 2024 in the Free State. Wilken hopes that solutions will be put on the table to urgently address border safety.
Jakkals le Roux, chairman of FSA’s Rural Safety Committee, believes there was unanimity from all the role players involved that greater and better cooperation must take place with increased actions in order to improve border safety. Aspects related to the establishment of pounds, the absence of a border road, as well as the lack of effective mobile phone networks were also discussed with definitive interventions to be launched.
Wilken believes that the conversation was essential and that there is a positivity between key players and departments to effectively address the safety aspects that adversely affect communities near the border.
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