Police on alert for farm attacks

Police chiefs in the Eastern Cape have confirmed that thugs posing as police officers before attacking farmers was a national problem.

Farmers have a right to demand to see an officers’ official appointment card, Eastern Cape police spokesman Lieutenant Khaya Tonjeni said.

Farmers are on high alert after a spate of farm attacks since last Sunday and police chiefs said in a statement they had given the order to their organised crime section to solve the puzzle.

Agri Eastern Cape president Dougie Stern said: “Farmers have to improve their security arrangements because the SAPS are understaffed and are not able to adequately patrol and secure farming areas.”

But Tonjeni dismissed claims that rural policing was hamstrung by a shortage of officers.

“There is no clear proof of validity to the allegation that the SAPS is understaffed and unable to implement policing in the rural areas,” he said.

“Our members are working and our intelligence is on high alert since the last two attacks.

“We were able to obtain information of an attack that was planned to happen in Port Alfred and our members reacted in good time and averted it.

“The organised crime division has also activated their members to determine whether this is a work of a gang aimed at the farmers in the province, or isolated sporadic attacks.

“Members of the public and criminals posing as police officials is a national challenge.

“Police are fighting this through various methods but we still experience isolated incidents of criminals posing as police officials.

“We encourage the public to familiarise themselves with police uniforms and be able to verify it through the badge on the right hand side, which usually has the SAPS star with the surname of the member.

“The public can also request ... an officer to produce a valid SAPS appointment card.

“If the posers are coming with sirens and blue light and you are unsure if they are legitimate police or not, call the nearest police office to confirm and also note the registration as this can be used by police to determine the vehicle’s rightful owner.”

Tonjeni said the Eastern Cape SAPS had prioritised policing in rural areas and their rural safety policing strategy involved the community, farm workers, farm owners and formal businesses, local authorities and relevant government departments.

Stations were encouraged to regularly patrol farming areas and attend meetings of farmers, traditional leaders and general public “to share information about patterns of crime”.

The police chiefs urged farmers to perform background checks when recruiting employees “to establish whether these employees are responsible for sharing information with criminals”.