LOUIS TRICHARDT – While South African troops are deployed at high cost in foreign countries like Burundi, a desperate situation is developing on the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe, as a direct result of the absence of the South African security forces.

This criticism was contained in an urgent letter addressed to the Minister of Defence, Mr Patrick Lekota, by the Soutpansberg District Agricultural Union (DAU) and faxed through to him last week.

The letter, which was at first returned to the Agricultural Union by the Minister's Office, because it was written in Afrikaans, was then duly translated into English for the Minister. Although it was marked as urgent, no reply has as yet been received.

The Soutpansberg DAU requested the minister in the letter for his urgent attention for the situation developing along the country's Northern border. The DAU also offered the Minister assistance in handling the crisis on an organised scale.

The DAU called the minister's attention to the fact that literally thousands of the victims of the man made catastrophe in Zimbabwe are streaming southwards across the border.

"They are pouring across the border, across us and across our possessions. These people are hungry and desperate and the whole situation places artificial pressure on the local agricultural community."

Asked about the response from the Minister, a spokesperson for the DAU said this week that no reply or reaction has been received on their urgent request to address the crisis on the border.

The spokesperson said the fact that millions of rands are available for foreign adventures, while the local defence spending is drastically curbed, would seem to suggest an unbelievably short sighted, naïve and irresponsible approach.

"Nobody can expect of us to be satisfied with a situation which we experience as a totally unrealistic prioritisation of the country's security needs."

The spokesperson said the dangerous vacuum created by the obvious absence of a sufficient SANDF presence on the border, is drastically increasing the burden on the agricultural community to take control of its own safety and security in addition to its primary task of producing food for the country.