Police in Gauteng and North West recovered over 50 stolen farm animals in the past week.
The South African Police Service posted about the Gauteng recovery on social media earlier this week, saying that K9 sniffer dogs were activated in Sedibeng immediately after a livestock owner laid a theft complaint on Monday (8 August 2022).
The dogs led police members to a shack in Evaton, where a total of 22 sheep and 16 goats were found in a garage. The animals were confiscated, along with an unlicensed 9 mm pistol, with the serial number filed off, and housebreaking implements.
No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
In a separate incident, Maroela Media reports that police in North West have arrested two suspected stock thieves and recovered 19 sheep.
This, after members of the Wolmaransstad crime prevention unit noticed a suspicious vehicle on the N12 outside Klerksdorp. The driver and passenger of the vehicle could reportedly not convince officers of their ownership of the animals. They were arrested and have already appeared in court.
Serious problem in South African agriculture
Stock theft remains one of the most pressing challenges that farmers across the country face. Food For Mzansi reported this year that more than 75 000 sheep, 49 000 cattle and 48 000 goats had been stolen in the last financial year. Other animals are stolen in smaller numbers.
Free State Agriculture believes that more than half of all crime committed against the agricultural sector can be attributed to livestock theft.
A fraction of the stolen animals are ever recovered, and leaders in the industry attribute the problem to a lack of police resources, despite stock theft being classified a priority crime.
Multiple experts, such as Jason Kümm, Agri Eastern Cape’s manager for rural safety and communications and Uys van der Westhuijzen, Agri SA’s chairman for the rural safety centre of excellence, concur that the country’s dedicated stock theft units include dedicated officers but that they are hampered in doing their jobs.
“In many cases the SAPS members on ground level have a passion for their jobs and want to assist the farmers as much as possible, but they are not granted the tools needed to do this job,” Kümm told Food For Mzansi in a previous article.
“There are dedicated police officers, but our police stations don’t have enough vehicles, staff, etc. The poor policeman in blue always takes flack for being in the wrong,” Van der Westhuijzen said.
Farmers and organised agriculture are pleading for more effective implementation of the country’s National Rural Safety Strategy, which they believe will help curb stock theft and violent crimes in rural South Africa.
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