By halting food exports to meet domestic demand and lifting import duties on certain foodstuffs, many countries are further skewing the supply and demand imbalance, says Pick ‘n Pay chairperson Raymond Ackerman.
“The growing global food crisis and the popular protests in many developing countries against the rising price of basic foodstuffs are of particular concern for the foreseeable future,” said “rising prices stem from growing demand in China and India, the switch to biofuels and soaring commodity prices.
At home the situation has been aggravated by continuous interest-rate increases and the rapidly escalating price of fuel. That’s why we have recommitted to selling certain basic food lines at cost. This subsidy will naturally have an impact on the company, but we try our best to extend the lag of price increases by buying forward, although suppliers could struggle to meet demand.” – Roelof Bezuidenhout
Door shooter was within his rights
egal experts say Jaco Swart acted well within the law when he fired a shot through a closed door, killing one burglar and wounding another in his parents’ farmhouse in Delareyville on 16 May. T he national spokesperson for the South African Gun Owners’ Association (SAGA), Martin Hood, explained that Swart had reason to believe he was in danger, given the fact that farm attacks happen frequently in that area. The perpetrators were inside the house and he couldn’t escape because he was inside his bedroom.
By law, one is under no obligation to attempt to escape when in a life-threatening situation. O n the night of the incident Swart was home alone when he heard someone fiddling with the locked door of his bedroom. With his father’s hunting rifle he fired a shot at the door, killing 33-year-old Michael Thipe and wounding his accomplice. has since been charged with murder, attempted murder and the illegal possession of a firearm.
Hood said it’s illegal to arrest a farmer who has shot an armed attacker on his farm. The police do it anyway because of ignorance and because they are told to do so, he explained. In Swart’s case it was Cosatu’s provincial secretary in the North West, Solly Phetoe, who insisted on the arrest. N ow Phetoe himself faces a charge of hate speech lodged with the Human Rights Commission by the rights organisation AfriForum.
Phetoe publicly labelled the incident an act of racial violence against black people, comparing it to the Skielik shooting at Swartruggens earlier this year. He said that both incidents took place because of the shooters’ fathers’ negligence in leaving firearms in the house. ood, however said that while the charge of illegal possession against may be technically correct, the law does allow the use of a firearm belonging to someone else in an act of self-defence.
Meanwhile AfriForum’s Nantes Kelder raised his concern over Phetoe’s attempt to use his political influence to manipulate the legal process. “I’m concerned that South Africa might follow in Zimbabwe’s footsteps if individuals interfere with the legal processes for political gain,” said Kelder. “I base my fear on the fact that Solly Phetoe insisted on Jaco Swart’s arrest, failing, which Cosatu would have mobilised its members to protest at the local police station. was arrested four days after the incident. We cannot allow the police or judiciary to become political pawns in South Africa’s so-called democracy.” – Annelie Coleman
