Agri SA says the Unlawful Entry on Premises Bill is promising but has raised concerns that the bill needs further consideration to make it effective and to ensure that the rights and safety of property owners are protected.
AGRI SA says the Unlawful Entry on Premises Bill is promising but has raised concerns that the bill needs further consideration to make it effective and to ensure that the rights and safety of property owners is protected.
Kobus Visser, from Agri SA’s Rural Safety and Provincial Affairs, said the organisation had submitted its comments on the Unlawful Entry on Premises Bill.
Visser said the legislation provided an important mechanism for giving effect to the constitutional duty that rests on the SAPS to prevent, combat and investigate crime.
“However, there remain important concerns about the bill that must be addressed to make it effective and ensure it protects the rights and safety of property owners,” he added.
Visser said the bill had the potential to address some key problems experienced under the current application of the law and as a result of poor police action in cases of the unlawful entering of premises.
“It allows, for example, for the arrest of trespassers even if they have already erected structures on a property and are occupying such structures. This is an important provision to combat the growing threat of illegal occupation of farmland and the resultant threat to food security that it poses,” said Visser.
He added that while the bill was a good initiative in this sense, work still needed to be done.
“Agri SA has raised its concern about the bill’s requirement that a landowner approach unlawful trespassers and request them to vacate the premises. This requirement could result in direct conflict and, considering the high rate of violent crime in South Africa, it is unconscionable to expect a lawful occupier to put themselves in a potentially life-threatening situation,” he said.
According to Visser, Agri SA had also flagged an important loophole in the bill.
“If an intruder complies with a landowner’s request to leave a property, he cannot be charged for contravention of the bill. It is Agri SA’s view that the instant that the trespasser enters private property he has broken the law and should be arrested and charged accordingly,” he said.
Uys van der Westhuijzen, who is the chair of Agri SA’s Centre of Excellence: Rural Safety, said South African farmers faced multiple challenges related to land ownership, including the Expropriation Bill which will shortly proceed to the National Assembly for debate.
He said Agri SA members were increasingly encountering trespassers on their properties with little support from the police.
“The effect is that this trespassing frequently escalates to the unlawful occupation of land and buildings, leading to costly and time-consuming eviction proceedings. If these remaining challenges can be ironed out, this bill will assist in curbing unlawful entry on farmers’ premises, but we will also need effective policing to enforce this crucial protection,” said Van der Westhuijzen.
