IngweNet Farm and Rural Safety Explained

The IngweNet© Farm and Rural Safety Program Explained

IngweNet© NPC is a multi-faceted Non Profit Company that has operated in the field of People Empowerment and Sustainable Community Development since 1996, predominantly in the rural areas of Southern Africa.

The IngweNet© Farm and Rural Safety Program has been developed by the IngweNet© NPC’s Executive Director since the early 1980’s, and run actively since 2004. Currently it is formulated to primarily act as a development, coordination, advisory, and training service to farmers and rural residents. The Founder and Executive Director of IngweNet© NPC, Honorary Dr Wayne “Ingwe” Lourens was, in 2004, the appointed Sole Preferred Service Provider to the National African Farmers Association (NAFU), consulting and developing various programs for the Emergent Farmers, Muthi Plant sustainability with the Sangomas and Inyangas, and Training Centres for Young Farmers, amongst other development services.

The need for a new approach to Farm and Rural Safety, and Food Security, arises every few years, due to a growing criminal element selecting to target rural farmers and residents, as these residents have become “soft” targets since about 1980.

The IngweNet© Farm and Rural Safety Program goes beyond the concept of “security”, in that it assists with preparing for and implementing IMMEDIATE responses to any form of safety issue in the rural context – a form of “Disaster Prevention and Management” that helps with prevention and immediate relief measures under any circumstances, until such time as the professional services can get on-site.

Farm and Rural attacks, and the increasing hardships of Rural living in general, are of major concern at any time, with the escalation of incidents seriously impacting the national economy, the most concerning being the loss of food production.

Therefore, securing the future of food security in the form of agricultural production and its brains-trust – the farmers and rural residents – is of paramount importance.

The knock-on effect of Agri-Crime and other factors driving farmers off the land impacts on the viability of farmers being able to produce sustainable food, and also raises production & retail costs.

To achieve this as a stand-alone individual, family, or rural (Agri) business is extremely difficult, and farmers and rural residents concentrating on their core business quite frankly just do not have the time to set up or administer any type of community project outside of their own farm business.

Recent developments now allow private NGO’s to operate in the field of Safety and Security as a type of Community Policing organisation, under a Provincial Safety and Security authority, as the previously-established Community Policing Forums have proven themselves incapable of IMPLEMENTING any action plans for rural areas, due to the lack of resources.

IngweNet© NPC has partnered with NGO’s and Community Action Groups to PHYSICALLY and progressively roll out a type of Farm / Rural Watch concept throughout Southern Africa, to add value to existing structures and develop new ones in areas that lack them.

IngweNet© NPC’s principal Strategic Partner is the SA Community Action Network (SA CAN), and by combining our complimentary services, IngweNet© NPC and SA CAN together can provide personal safety and protection of property ANYWHERE in South Africa, in Town and Country.

Existing SA CAN subscribers benefit from the added services that IngweNet© NPC provides, and IngweNet© NPC Subscribers are encouraged to also subscribe to SA CAN in order to have the maximum personal safety and property protection benefits provided jointly.

IngweNet© NPC’s structure goes BEYOND the normal Farm Watch concept, and is also intended to engage with SAPS structures to streamline and create a more friendly service when reporting criminal incidents and laying charges, and providing community assistance on-site where required.

The community plays a pivotal role in the IngweNet© Farm and Rural Safety Program, participating where they are able with active help, and/or administration, and/or community involvement, and/or financial assistance.

Community (neighbours) in effect become the “first respondents” with assistance to anyone who has a safety issue. This is backed up by security companies operating in the area, jointly. It is a principle in the IngweNet© Farm and Rural Safety Program that security companies support each others’ clients, with the closest response team being backed up by any other teams in the area also. Fast-response emergency medical personnel are also a part of the area safety plan.

All respondents are trained in the legal aspects and requirements for each type of response situation. The community and security companies DO NOT replace the SAPS, but need to work under the guidelines set out by the SAPS for responses, especially for criminal activities (including illegal poaching and dog hunting).

It is one of the IngweNet© Farm and Rural Safety Program’s main goals to ENSURE that there is a rapid SAPS response to any criminal action in any rural area. Strategies for this have been formulated, and will be presented to the SAPS Senior Officers and the Minister in due course, when there is a sufficient groundswell of public support from rural communities of ALL cultural groups to cause the “top brass” to sit up and take notice.

Training of any residents of any local area that wishes to be proactive in securing their own safety can be given on demand, either on an individual basis or a group basis.

This can initially be in the form of 1-day Seminars or Workshops, using audio-visual aids, by arrangement. Facilities for such Seminars or Workshops are available in the KZN Midlands, including accommodation for those from far afield, for groups from 20 to 50 persons.

IngweNet© NPC is in the process of raising funds in order to establish a TRAINING CENTRE for the KZN Midlands, to be followed by others on an ad hoc basis in other regions of South Africa. These Centres will each be a multi-functional facility, with an emphasis on the training of any committed person or group from that region in PREVENTATIVE Rural Safety.

IngweNet© NPC also provides ADVISORY services to Farmers and Rural Residents, helping them to best formulate emergency contingency plans for their farms, homes, and resource management in the event of any form of emergency or “disaster”, whether natural, criminal, or otherwise man-made.

In the future, IngweNet© NPC will address the issue of job creation at community level, with Food Security as the starting point leading to downstream processing industries and support services all generating a vibrant local economy. This and IngweNet© NPC’s plan to address socio-economic issues will ultimately reduce petty crime and the burden it places on the judicial system.