Cele and State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo met with members of organised farming groups on 13 October this year to express their concern about rural security and livestock theft. Cele, accompanied by National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole, will provide feedback on the issues and also address the wider farming community, including farmers and farm workers.

Police in the Free State are yet to make an arrest following the recent farm attack where 50-year-old farmer, Mark Regal, was killed. According to police spokesperson, Motantsi Makhele, two suspects arrived at the Thelma Farm near Odendaalsrus on Wednesday night whilst the farmer's wife was sitting outside. Makhele says she allegedly shot one of the suspects, and as Regal came out of the house, he was allegedly shot by one of the suspects. The other suspect fled the scene. Two counts of murder have been registered for further investigation. This comes after OFM News recently reported that 26-year-old Eddie Hills, who is the son of slain 56-year-old Hennenman farmer, Pieter Hills, died in hospital on Wednesday, following a farm attack last week where he was stabbed in the chest and his father was fatally shot on Swartpan farm outside Hennenman.

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The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in North West has purchased a fleet of vehicles in a bid to tackle service delivery challenges to farmers in the province. The department’s spokesperson, Emelda Setlhako, says some of these newly acquired vehicles have already been dispatched to various districts to help ease pressure on the existing vehicle resources of the department. Setlhako says the department has purchased an additional 29 vehicles and has invested more than R7 million in this project, which will assist in taking critical agricultural services closer to communities in the North West. She says MEC Desbo Mohono has pointed out that acquiring the vehicles was a step in the right direction. Meanwhile, she adds that Mohono is of the opinion that while government fights Covid-19, the department cannot lose its focus on other critical service delivery in the province - such as the production of food and rural development.

OFM News