On Saturday evening, 22 February 2020, former Free State Farmer of the Year, Mimie Jacobs was attacked on her farm just outside Bloemfontein.
After having the door of her farmhouse kicked open, Mimie Jacobs was stabbed and brutally tortured by three men, whose motive for the attack appears to money.
The local farmer was then taken to Pelonomi Hospital to attend to the injuries she sustained through the attack, however, after 16 hours of not having received the required assistance, was transferred through to Mediclinic Private Hospital where she was immediately assisted with the requisite healthcare.
She remains a victim of her career choice, a victim of crime and also a victim of our poor healthcare in the Free State.
The DA is concerned that farm attacks of this nature are on the increase and spiraling out of the control of the South African Police Service.
According to a recent release by civil rights organisation AfriForum, there were an estimated 552 farm attacks in 2019 as opposed to 433 in 2018, which translates to a 27% increase. Of these farm attacks, AfriForum goes on to state that the Free State registered the highest recorded number of farm attacks in South Africa.
Whilst it remains clear that the SAPS remain incapable of curbing the tide of farm attacks and murders in the Free State, the DA remains hopeful that our Community Policing Bill, tabled in 2019, which seeks to make positive contributions to fight rural crimes, will be supported by all political parties in the Legislature.
Furthermore, it is unfathomable that a patient who has been subjected to both physical and emotional trauma such as Mimie Jacobs is again subjected to an incompetent public healthcare system.
During the Free State public hearings on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, it became clear through the participation of ordinary Free Staters, that NHI Bill is another “get rich” Ponzi scheme which enriches politicians instead of advocating for a universal healthcare system.
The ANC knows in their heart of hearts that their government cannot afford the NHI Bill, and lived experiences such as that of Mimie Jacobs should be a warning of the standard of healthcare service which can be expected from public hospitals such as Pelonomi. This serves as a timely reminder of why South Africans should object to the NHI Bill to safeguard against yet another casualty of a failed state-owned enterprise.
The DA’s Sizani Healthcare Plan will achieve what the NHI cannot. Sizani will see prices kept down through transparency and competition in both the public and private sector and will offer South Africans the freedom of choice, whereas the NHI will prescribe to you where you must go for healthcare services,
Sizani will allow you to use your subsidy wherever you choose, whether in the public or private healthcare system. This type of innovation is just one reason why the DA-run Western Cape manages the best provincial Health Department in the country.
The DA in the Free State will vigorously engage with the MEC for Health Ms. Montseng Tsiu through the Legislature in an attempt to rescue what is left of public healthcare in the Free State, which has suffered after decades of general decay. The MEC’s lack of action is proof of her indifference to the healthcare of people of the province.
The DA calls on all parties in the Legislature to support the DA’s Community Policing Bill and ensure that all our people the Free State benefit from oversight structures that will also contribute towards the safety and security of our country’s greatest assets, namely our farmers and their employees who feed our nation.