A life-long investment gone in hours
The Jacobs family from Nancefield shares their story on how their lives will forever change after their livestock were stolen.
For over thirty years, Peter Jacobs (74) has been running his informal Bokamuso Farm in Nancefield. On his farm he would keep cows, goats, sheep, pigs and some chickens, the cows being the biggest investment to many families. On September 14, 116 cows were stolen from him and his partners, an investment gone that could be the end of the farm.
The son Michael Jacobs explained the young man who looks after the cattle, left the farm with the cows in order for them to go eat grass. The young man was approached by another who seemed to be a job seeker.
The two walked the cattle and talked along the way. When they reached the destination where the cows ate, two men passed by and complimented the young man on his dogs, the young man was distracted and when he turned the man who walked with him grabbed him and managed to tie him up.
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The three men then placed the young man in the ditch in the veld, one stayed behind to watch him while the two led the cattle away. The young man was tied up for about six hours then he managed to escape and returned to the farm with only one cow.
Jacobs was contacted by one of the partners who noticed that the young man had not yet returned home and when Jacobs arrived on the farm, the young man explained what happened.
Jacobs shared that he called the police but was told to go to the station. After thirty minutes or more of waiting for assistance at Eldorado Park SAPS, a case was opened. Jacobs and the partners went searching for the cattle but were unlucky.
The next day they managed to track trails of the cattle going towards Lawley station, however the trail went cold as there are many other cattle in the informal settlement in Lawley.
The case has been transferred to the Vereeniging SAPS Stock Theft Unit. The 74-year-old shared that he usually does not keep so many cattle on the farm but choose to this time because he wanted to pay off everything that he owed. The cows have been branded but some of them were bought and have not yet been branded on. Out of the 116 cows there were calves and pregnant cows as well.
“This here is my father’s place but he was busy nurturing upcoming farmers. This is basically a livelihood that is gone, it’s like our lives are over. My father is 74-years-old, so how does he start again? Some of the investors or partners here had these livestock because their children are in university and they were depending on the sales of these cows so that they could pay for their children’s studies. The investment is gone overnight, just like that. There’s no coming back from this, the cattle were the long-term investment,” said son Michael Jacobs.
Daughter, Venassa Jacobs also added that she is one of the children who were depending on the sales in order to pay for her university fees. She is a third-year law student who is now left with huge question marks as to will she be able to continue study next year.
The family is hoping that their cattle will be recovered and that maybe the government could assist them in any way possible.
Jacobs now has to purchase milk to feed the six remaining calves from a neighbouring farmer and he spends approximately R200 on milk because they are too young to eat grass.
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