AfriForum considers watching brief against police members involved in farm attack

The civil rights organisation AfriForum has noted with concern the arrest of three police members from the Ficksburg Police Station in relation to a farm attack that took place near Rosendal on 13 January 2020. The three police members appeared in the Ficksburg Magistrates Court on 3 February 2020. AfriForum is consulting with its legal team to consider all legal remedies, including a watching brief, to ensure that justice prevails.

“Police members should be held to an even higher standard than the average citizen – they should symbolise a fortress of justice – not the opposite,” says Joseph Renaud, Head of Safety for the central region at AfriForum. “With the Free State farming community already under constant threat from criminals, the last thing they need is a further destruction of their already fragile relationship with the SAPS,” says Renaud.

This incident furthermore comes at an inconvenient time for Police Minster Bheki Cele, who has been using every platform at his disposal to advocate for the amendment of the Firearms Control Act, 2000 (Act 60 of 2000) in order to eventually ban private citizens from owning firearms.

“We hope that this incident will bring Cele back to reality. It is unfathomable that his scheme to improve safety in South Africa should start with disarming law-abiding citizens, whilst his own SAPS apparently has sufficient problems that need sorting out first,” says Ian Cameron, Head of Community Safety at AfriForum.

AfriForum will soon announce further steps with regard to the three police members and will take the necessary steps to ensure that criminal elements within the SAPS are held accountable.