30 October 2017

During yesterday’s countrywide Black Monday protest actions against farm murders, it came to light that yet another person was killed in a farm attack near Vryheid (KwaZulu-Natal) and there was also an as-yet-unconfirmed incident in Koster in the North West, says Dr Pieter Groenewald, leader of the FF Plus.

According to Dr Groenewald, this underscores the fact that South Africans have reason to revolt against a government, which has failed its people miserably, by participating in protest actions like today’s.

He says that the FF Plus welcomes the protest action and considers it a barometer of what is actually going on in the hearts of South Africans.

Dr Groenewald says that the FF Plus is opposed to any form of violence or crime, but the emphasis placed on farm murders in this case is significant as agriculture is a strategic industry that supplies the people of South Africa with food.

“Yesterday, South Africans in general and the vulnerable agricultural community in particular, drew a line in the sand with the protest action to send a clear message to the government that the current state of affairs cannot continue indefinitely.

“The state and its law enforcement agents are not performing their Constitutional duty of keeping the country’s citizens safe and in so doing, they have breached their contract with South Africans.

“All reports on the massive protest action indicate that it was peaceful. It is too bad that certain political parties have tried to hijack the event for their own benefit, seeing as this really is a matter that requires all South Africans to join hands, regardless of their race or political convictions.

“Clearly the time has come for the ANC to be replaced with a multiparty government in all the provinces as well as on national level, says Dr Groenewald.

Dr Groenewald once more calls on communities, and specifically the farming communities, to protect themselves by joining organised safety initiatives. He also offers his sincerest condolences to the friends and families of the latest victims.

Issued by Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus Leader, 30 October 2017