With 25 people murdered on farms in the third quarter, police have outlined their integrated rural safety strategy featuring upgraded infrastructure, rapid response protocols and strengthened community partnerships to combat escalating crime.
By Michelle van der Spuy, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
Through the implementation of the National Rural Safety Strategy and related reforms, police aim to improve service delivery, response times and visible policing in rural and agricultural communities.
This forms part of the acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia’s written response to a parliamentary question from Mbali Dlamini, an MP for the Economic Freedom Fighters. The question focused on measures implemented to improve response times and visible policing in rural and agricultural areas, as well as the latest statistics on farm attacks and murders.
According to Cachalia, the South African Police Service is focusing on strengthening the capacity and capability of rural police stations by upgrading infrastructure, allocating resources and deploying additional personnel.
In addition, specific operational plans have been developed for rural areas, including activation procedures that are implemented immediately after a crime is reported. The aim is to mobilise an integrated police response to apprehend suspects as quickly as possible.
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Cachalia says community policing forums and local stakeholders will be engaged to improve information sharing, situational awareness and the rapid deployment of police resources. Incidents can be verified and discussed at monthly meetings with organised agricultural structures.
He believes these engagements will assist the police in identifying crime trends, verifying incidents and directing resources to areas where they are most needed.
Visible policing will be strengthened through targeted patrols, roadblocks and stop-and-search operations. The police also work closely with stakeholders involved in rural safety, such as community policing forums, farm watches and neighbourhood watches.
Cachalia says these partnerships enable communities to act as the police’s “eyes and ears” by identifying and reporting suspicious activities.
According to him, the police maintain a strong working relationship with the agricultural community and related structures.
“The E2 rural concept was developed following examples of effective cooperation between farm watches and community-based control rooms that have emerged from rural safety structures.”
He adds the national and provincial stock theft forums provide a platform for stakeholders to collaborate in combating crime.
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Farm Murder Statistics
According to statistics shared by Cachalia, 25 people were murdered on farms in South Africa during the third quarter of the 2025-26 financial year:
5 in the Free State
8 in Gauteng