The Dispatch reported last week on the destruction of a small co-operative farm in Centane, where a 72-year-old disabled farmer, David Nomngqokwana, arrived at his fields to find more than 500 cabbages sliced in half and maize crops cut down.
Nomngqokwana’s farm, the Tiyeka Agricultural Co-operative, which operates in Ward 26 near Butterworth, also had its fencing and fuel stolen.
Damage to the cabbages alone was estimated at R15,900, while the replacement cost of the fencing was about R6,400.
The co-operative is more than a source of food and income for Nomngqokwana; he also trains other disabled people to be able to produce their own food.
Though the attack was noteworthy for its destructiveness, the pillaging of small-scale farms is a crisis in the making.
Almost on a daily basis, small farmers in the Eastern Cape are crying for help to safeguard their stock, produce and properties.
As we reported in March, while heinous crimes such as murder were decreasing, stock theft was on the rise, with 1.5% more cases reported in the third quarter of the last financial year compared to the same period in the preceding year.
These crimes are sometimes accompanied by violence, placing the lives of villagers and small farmers at risk.
Small-scale and informal farmers are not mere side players in the agricultural economy of the Eastern Cape.
They are the bedrock of rural communities where poverty is entrenched and formal employment is scarce.
And make no mistake about it, they are under siege.
Nomngqokwana’s co-operative represents precisely the kind of grassroots initiative the government often promotes.
It creates work, builds skills and restores people’s dignity.
But such projects cannot survive if those who run them are left to fend off criminals on their own.
Police visibility in farming areas remains inconsistent and investigations often do not result in arrests and convictions.
Community policing structures, where they exist, need strengthening, while agricultural projects require practical support, from fencing and lighting to rapid-response mechanisms when incidents occur.
The spotlight has previously been placed on farm murders in SA.
More also needs to be done to safeguard the properties of those who ensure food security, albeit on a small scale, to the poorest of the poor.
Local government and traditional leaders also have a role to play in mobilising communities against these crimes.
Silence and impunity only embolden perpetrators.
If the state is serious about supporting rural development, it must match its rhetoric with action and ensure that those who feed their communities are not left defenceless in the face of crime.