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TAU SA: ‘We farmers are on our own’

That government “can classify police murders as a separate category from other murders but allege that they cannot do the same thing with farm murders…is a blatant lie”.

That’s how Louis Meintjes‚ president of the Transvaal Agricultural Union SA (TAU SA)‚ described the administration’s “unwillingness to act against farm murders‚ just as they have no will to acknowledge and protect any minority groups’ rights in this country”.

Meintjes’ comments came after a two-day United Nations Conference on Minority Rights in Geneva‚ at which he said “the (government) representative tried to minimise the status of minority groups instead of extending a hand of friendship to South Africa’s minorities”.

TAU SA was represented at the conference by assistant general manager Henk van de Graaf‚ who mentioned “SA’s permanent representative” launching an “hysteric tirade last year…for accepting our registration‚ and against us for raising our concerns‚ nothing has changed and since then nearly 60 more farmers have been murdered while violent attacks are on the increase”.

Meintjes said of this year’s event: “The SA representative’s reliance on the so-called reconciliation clause in SA’s Constitution‚ which says that the land belongs to everybody can only be seen for the fraudulent process it is.

“As long as land reform is forced and as long as demands are made that farmers and businesses must give more than half of their shares to blacks‚ it becomes clear that that the Constitution’s clause is simply a sweetener covering a bitter pill.”

He said that Article 235 of the same Constitution “deals with minority rights but after 21 years the ANC has not attempted to enact legislation with regard to this clause”.

“We farmers are on our own and we have to simply become more focused on our own safety and‚ in the process‚ deal mercilessly with the terrorists who prevent us — on our own land – from placing food on the table for the population of South Africa‚” Meintjes.

 

 

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