Escalating stock theft in the Eastern Cape is about to meet some resistance.
National Emergent Red Meat Producers Organisation (Nepro) MD Aggrey Mahanjana told the Dispatch on Wednesday a decision to form an anti-stock theft forum was taken at a virtual meeting with police, premier Oscar Mabuyane, safety & liaison MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe, and rural development & agrarian reform MEC Nomakhosazana Meth.
Mahanjana said livestock theft costs the province millions of rands each year, damages the agricultural economy and threatens food security.
“We wanted the meeting to request the premier to intervene in the stock theft crisis in the province. We do have cases in other provinces but the Eastern Cape has become the worst province to be hit by stock theft during lockdown.”
He said 74 sheep were stolen in Dutywa this week alone. Police spokesperson Captain Jackson Manatha said 64 were recovered and would be returned to their owner. No one has been arrested.
The theft of the sheep in Zone 14, Dutywa, was the latest in a province that has become the stock theft capital of SA.
Mahanjana said unless the scourge is urgently addressed, food security would be in serious jeopardy.
“The thieves go directly to women-headed homes, and they will take the whole kraal. This is a threat to food security in the province, and it is destroying the poor, who rely on the few sheep they have."
He said black farmers were particularly vulnerable as they seldom branded their livestock and seldom had people look after their animals, making life easy for thieves.
“Police and farmers cannot fight this alone. We need a proper, co-ordinated structure. Other provinces have fully functional stock theft forums, and now the premier has given the first step forward to his delegation and MECs, saying that in two weeks time there must be a provincial stock theft forum in place that includes all stakeholders.”
Mahanjana said the forum, which would include police and all “relevant” departments, would report to Mabuyane weekly.
“Stock theft has a huge negative impact on local small-scale farmers — there are financial losses, people lose their animals on a daily basis, especially sheep, which are always easy to steal, and are sold to neighbouring provinces.”
Mabuyane said said the government would support farmers with resources such as microchips embedded in ear tags to identify livestock ownership, as well as branding and tattooing of animals. A livestock register, kept by farmers to ensure easy identification, is also on the cards.
“We have to work more closely and in a much more integrated way. The activation of extension officers to get closer to livestock owners is also going to be helpful,” he said.
According to the national stock theft prevention forum, livestock worth R1.24bn was stolen in SA in 2018/2019. - DispatchLIVE
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