Dube police warn community about stock theft increase
"Recently, a farmer lost 12 cows after thieves managed to cut the fence of the kraal where the animals were kept."
Dube police called on the farming community in their policing precinct to be wary, following an increase in stock theft in the area in recent weeks.
“We met with plot owners last week to remind them about safety precautions such as locking livestock in on time, brand marking them, screening of their shepherds and the importance of having community patrols,” said police spokesperson Thembi Nowathe.
Nowathe said since the deployment of the stock theft unit to their police station in 2020, they had been seeing a drop in stock theft,
Recently, however, several cases of stolen animals were reported and cases opened.
“We have seen an escalation in the number of cows that are being stolen. They are stealing cows more than other animals.”
She said a farmer lost 12 cows after thieves managed to cut the fence of the kraal where the animals were kept.
“The owner had locked the kraal that night, but when they woke up, the fence had been cut and the cows were missing.
“The farmer suspects that trucks are arranged before theft and that the truck parks somewhere far from the scene to load the cows after the theft.”
In some instances, the criminals broke the legs of cows in the afternoon while grazing so that the cows cannot move.
“They will come back at night when it is dark. The owners will only find the skin of the cow but everything else would be taken.”
Nowathe said they have also realised that most farmers hire foreign nationals (mostly illegal) to look after their flocks.
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She said this becomes a problem if something happens because they have not been screened or checked if they have not committed crimes previously.
“When we send home affairs officials they accuse us of making them fight with their shepherds. Sometimes, you find a person ran away from an area and comes to our area without being screened, it becomes a problem. We are pleading with them to screen their shepherds.”
She stressed the importance of farmers taking care in appointing staff to care for their livestock.
“We would also like to stress the necessity of branding their cows so that they are easily recognised when they are recovered and making it easier to return.”
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