Rural safety: perception vs reality

“The perception exists that rural safety and the National Rural Safety Strategy are applicable only to farms, farmworkers and farm owners. This leads to another perception: that farmers and their workers, together with the South African Police Service (SAPS), are solely responsible for security on farms. These ideas are far removed from reality.

To address crime successfully in rural areas, one needs to understand the complexity of the environment, to respond when it happens, and to prevent future incidents.

Everyone wants to live in a stable and secure environment, and in the agriculture sector this leads to food