Police host a farming imbizo in Winterveldt regarding stock theft
"At least five animals are killed in a week."
An increase of stock theft in the the north has the local farming community worried.
Gauteng police Provincial Commissioner Elias Mawela hosted an imbizo where police and for the farming community of Dude including those in North West came together.
The event was hosted at the Jonga Cooks Resort in Winterveldt on Wednesday morning.
The farmers expressed their concerns about local food vendors as they believe their livestock was being sold to them.
“In a R35 plate, you find that the meat is more than the pap and that is very worrying for us because we know how expensive meat is.”
A farmer from Makaunyana, Gift Tshabalala, said the issue of stock theft is a big issue in the area and he has lost over 50 cattle since 2010.
He said there are others who are worse off than him.
“There is a guy who lost 42 cattle at a go. This thing has been going on for a while but in the past two or three years it’s worsened,” Tshabalala said.
“There are two different modus operandi, there are those who sell the cows to auctions after rebranding them. Then there are those who slaughter them in the bush and our understanding is that they then sell them to the people who sell meat on the streets.
“We have at some stage with the police followed a lead but unfortunately, when we got there, the better parts of the meat was gone and there were only legs.”
Tshabalala said the criminals go to the bush in the afternoon to trap the animals by cutting the back muscle with a machete. Once that is done, the animal is completely immobilised.
“They will then come in the evening to drag the animal closer to the main road where they will load it in the vehicle after slaughtering it. At least five animals are killed in a week.
“It takes so much money to raise these cattle and just when you are about to reap the rewards, somebody comes and takes it. You then have to go back to square one.”
He said they have tried our level best to patrol but the situation is not getting any better.
“The meeting we had with the commissioner is very promising, it was a very fruitful meeting but at the end of the day, the prove is in the pudding. We can say whatever we want to say but if it does not translate to action then it is useless. As long as all the promises that were made can be kept then we can have a big relief.”
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Thembi Nowathe said the farmers demanded a satellite police station in the area and a stock theft unit to deal with the issue.
“They demanded more police visibility and radios to make communication easier. They also complained about police competency.”
Nowathe admitted that police in the area have been opening more cases of stock theft.
“The criminals steal the cows and slaughter them in the veldt. They then transport it via local taxis.
“We have arrested a suspect who had exactly done this. We found that he took out the seats so he could be able to load the meat after stealing it.”
She said they have established a rural safety unit to patrol with farmers at night.
“This will help us a lot in terms of curbing the situation.”
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