Stock thieves have robbed the Eastern Cape of more than R300m in a one-year period, and about a third of all stock theft in SA occurs within the province.
With cases of stock theft having more than doubled in Humansdorp year on year, one farmer not only lost a dozen sheep but also three highly specialised sheepdogs in the past four months.
Free State police spokesperson, Stephen Thakeng, tells OFM News that six of the cattle were already slaughtered by the time they were discovered by police 8 km from the farm and reclaimed by their .
Stock theft and the black market for red meat are causing major fluctuations in the mainstream market prices of mutton and beef, and farmers are looking to international buyers for more stability.
Farmers sleep with one eye open as stock theft costs SA R1.4bn annually
By Bongani Hans
Share
DURBAN - LIVESTOCK theft is costing the South African economy about R1.4 billion annually, said Willie Clack, the national chairperson of the National Stock Theft Prevention Forum (NSTPF).
As a result of the damages caused by this crime to the agricultural industry, NSTPF said it would always consider livestock theft as “serious” irrespective of decreases in the crime.
“It does have a serious impact on people,” he said.
Despite the fact that Police Minister Bheki Cele, in his 2020/21 crime statistics report, indicated that livestock theft declined by 6.9 percent, farmers, especially in the Free State, Eastern Cape and Western Cape, still sleep with one eye open.