By Bob Frean
Expect the international community to apply pressure on the government to take better action to prevent farm attacks, the SA Timber Growers' Association congress was told in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday.
Werner Weber, a former president of the association and organiser of Action: Stop Farm Attacks, said that because of the refusal by the government to requests to discuss the "intolerable situation", his organisation had decided to "internationalise" its concern.
"We have had most heartening responses internationally.
'Two or three farm attacks a day and every third day a farmer is killed' "Overseas media have carried reports sympathetic to South African farmers and Reuters made a nine-minute video which has been offered for screening world-wide.
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"Since September, we have been trying to interview the president and ministers of state but we have been met with flat refusals. This is intolerable. It is justice failed which is psychologically more damaging than the crimes themselves.
"It is unfair that we are being killed systematically.
"In 10 years, 5 540 farms have been attacked, which means that on average every seventh farm has been attacked.
"There are an average of two or three farm attacks a day and every third day a farmer is killed.
'We have been unable to speak to the government' "Our petition to halt farm attacks was signed by 384 000 people, but we have been unable to speak to the government," Weber said.
Opening the congress, Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Ronnie Kasrils said that small-scale forestry could promote rural development and bring previously disadvantaged people into the formal economy.
He challenged the timber industry to eradicate the scourge of invasive trees from waterways and environmentally sensitive areas.
A further challenge was in value addition to timber. Local timber interests might be able to persuade international customers to develop processing facilities in South Africa or work with local customers to develop new uses of wood in the country.
Brian Aitken, national chairperson of the association, complained that forestry was being discriminated against by being singled out as the only streamflow reduction activity. "For practical and economic reasons, other dryland use categories can be classified as heavy, medium or light users of water.
"A partial solution to the demand for land was for further privatisation of remaining state-owned plantations. These are smaller plantations which have been identified for allocation to small emerging timber growers."
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