GOVERNMENT is considering establishing a national body to look into livestock theft, Deputy Agriculture Minister Bheki Cele said last Friday.
“It is a major problem, especially cross-border stock theft between the Eastern Cape and Lesotho.
Since late August this year, 12 sheep have been stolen from farmers in the Izingolweni area. Police spokesman Captain Gerald Mfeka said Izingolweni police are investigating stock theft in the four reported cases.
“The first stock theft occurred at Kwanyuswa Ward. The farmer kept two sheep in the kraal and the following day he noticed that the gate was open and his sheep were missing. Another farmer also lost two sheep at Nkulu Ward,” said Captain Mfeka.
The farmer reported that she had left her two sheep grazing in the veld. When she went to fetch them they were not there.
Three sheep were also stolen in Nkulu Ward after they were grazing in the veld.
In a recent case last Saturday, five sheep were stolen from a farm in Nqabeni . It is alleged that the farmer kept her five sheep in the kraal and on the following day all had been stolen. “Police are investigating these stock theft cases. No arrest have been made so far,” said Capt Mfeka.
