Call for Rural Safety Units Following Brutal Free State Farm Attack

A couple in the Free State is fighting for their lives following a brutal attack on their farm in Smithfield, South Africa, on 31 December, said the Democratic Alliance (DA)… who have reiterated their call for specialised rural safety units.

Dennis and Jeanetta du Plessis – aged 70 and 65 – are both in Intensive Care in Bloemfontein following the attack. According to latest reports, their condition is stable.

One of the suspects is rumoured to have died by suicide whilst the other is still at large, said DA Free State Premier Candidate Patricia Kopane.

An investigation is underway to determine exactly what happened. According to reports, the deceased suspect used a stolen firearm from the farmer to shoot himself, after the muddy area in which he was hiding was surrounded by police.

Four firearms and ammunition were stolen during the attack.

The couple’s son told reporters that two young men assaulted his parents with a metal pipe or something similar. Fortunately they were able to hit the panic button, and local farmers responded immediately causing the attackers to flee.

Kopane said she has today written to the MEC for Safety and Security, Sam Mashinini, “requesting that we meet to discuss the rising incidents of attacks in rural communities and poor police resource allocation to deal with this problem, affecting both farmworkers and farmers”.

Kopane says farmers and farm workers are both at high risk in the Free State of being attacked and claimed that “SAPS has no real power to protect them due to limited personnel and resources to prevent violent crime in rural areas especially farms”.