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Bheki Cele, Minister of Police. (Netwerk24)
- Police Minister Bheki Cele again denied saying that farmers should not complain if they are injured. after seizing cattle.
- He said that he spoke on isiZulu and that his words were misinterpreted.
- Cele also said she was working to improve relations in the Normandien community.
Police Minister Bheki Cele again denied saying that farmers should not complain if they are injured.
Cele spoke with News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson on a live broadcast Friday morning, discussing the farm attacks, the recent assassination of Chief Constable Lt. Col. Charl Kinnear, and the investigation of high-profile politicians. for alleged corruption.
Cele has come under fire after a recent spate of farm killings, including the gruesome murder of 21-year-old farm manager Brendin Horner near Paul Roux in the Free State last week, especially after he condemned the violence that ensued. produced in Senekal the following Tuesday the appearance in court of Horner’s alleged murderers.
Local farmers and protesters reportedly stormed the court and set fire to a police vehicle.
Cele was reported to have held a meeting with the Normandien farming community in KwaZulu-Natal, where Glen and Vida Rafferty were killed in early September.
Normandy Agriculture Association president Roland Collyer, the Rafferty couple’s nephew, told Landbou Weekblad that he was disappointed by what Cele had said at the meeting in response to a livestock problem.
Misinterpreted comments
He told the publication that Cele told the meeting that “farmers should not complain if they are injured after seizing livestock.”
On Friday, Cele again denied saying that. “As I said in Parliament, it would be irresponsible for me to say that in a community where there are already tensions.”
Cele said she visited Normandien to address the strained relationship between the communities. He said his comments on isiZulu were misinterpreted by an Afrikaans journalist.
“I would have expected that journalist to confirm what I said. I want to repeat it clearly: I never made such a statement. I would never say such a thing.”
He said the tension in the community is partly attributed to the issue of cattle herding by the farm dwellers because they are being restricted in terms of the number of animals they can raise. In one case, a farmer claimed that his animals had been poisoned.
“We have increased our police resources in that area,” he added.
Cele strongly denied that he had “chosen sides” against the farmers, according to the Afrikaans weekly Rapport. He said the black community had accused him of siding with white farmers.
“A lot of good things came out of that meeting. We agreed to work together.”
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