Livestock theft is spiralling in South Africa, with more than 36 000 cases reported in the past year.
Livestock owners must work with the authorities to fight against stock theft which is rampant in the country, says National Stock Theft Prevention Forum (NSPF) chair Louis Wessels.
This was after a recent incident when three men were arrested a few days ago for being found in possession of 26 goats worth R50 000 in the back of a bakkie.
They are expected to appear in the Klerksdorp Magistrate’s Court soon.
Stock theft on the rise in South Africa
Statistics South Africa’s latest Governance, Public Safety, and Justice Survey (2024-25) says that livestock theft cases are increasing.
In the past year alone, 36 109 cases of stock theft were reported – a 3.5% increase from the previous year.
A staggering 152 033 animals were stolen, with the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape the hardest-hit provinces.
Communities losing faith in police response
“In an independent survey, it was found that, just like other crimes, community members have lost their faith in police due to a number of reasons and, therefore, they do not report stock theft cases,” Wessels said.
“The police also have huge challenges due to the lack of investigators as stock theft is a specialist crime.”
Wessels has advised livestock farmers to join their local rural safety structures, where cases are discussed and owners can actually determine the progress on their cases.
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Farmers urged to take responsibility in prevention
“It is most important to know that if an owner does not report a stock theft case, nothing can be done. Saps’ allocation of necessary and essential resources are determined by crime statistics.
“Livestock owners also need to take responsibility to mark their animals under the Animal Identification Act (branding of large stock and tattooing of small stock). This is the first line of defence in order to determine ownership of animals,” Wessels said.
“Another problem is the affidavit that the owner gives as this forms the basis of the court case. It is most important that the facts in the affidavit are correct.”
Food security and rural livelihoods at risk
He added farmers must make use of the service of formal structures such as the NSPF on national and provincial levels, all role players, including police, the National Prosecuting Authority and agricultural authorities, as well as abattoirs and feedlots, together with the national stock theft reporting system.
Wessels said stock theft poses a huge risk to food security in the country and that rural livestock farmers were mostly affected by this crime.
“You can imagine when an individual has only 10 cows and five are stolen or slaughtered, it is a 50% loss of income,” Wessels said.
Agriculture union TLU SA general manager Bennie van Zyl said urgent action was needed to address the crisis.
Calls for government and farmers to collaborate
“We don’t have to wait to the point when farmers will no longer see profits or be unable to continue doing business.
“Farmers throughout the country have different experiences when it comes to livestock theft. We have great concern in the sector and we call on the government to act as soon as possible.
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“The government should accept the responsibility to actually look into this reality and see how they can solve it.”
An Agricultural economist, Wandile Sihlobo, said: “We can see that nearly half of the incidences occurred in a kraal/outside the house, followed by when livestock is in the fields/grazing land (40.7%).
“In terms of what the thieves are after, we can see that goats (39.8%) were the most common livestock stolen, followed by cattle (24.6%) in 2024-25.
“If we want a prosperous agricultural sector, we must put strong control on these issues. This could be through enhanced collaboration between the police service and organised agriculture groups.
‘Enormous cost to farmers’
“Stock theft presents enormous costs to farmers and agribusinesses. In fact, if one talks to any commercial farmer, over time there is significant spending on security. I have seen several farmers installing cameras and other security measures due to concerns about crime.
“For new entrant farmers, who may also have a relatively weak financial base, stock theft may take some out of business. The same is true for smallholder farmers, leaving households in a worse-off position.”
A few months ago, national Saps management held a stakeholder engagement with Bloemfontein farmers to discuss ways of addressing the crisis.
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