31 May 2024
By: Jeanne van der Merwe
With the summer grain harvest in full swing, grain thieves are becoming increasingly cunning and sophisticated, infiltrating the supply chain in every conceivable way.
At least three truck drivers have already died in hijackings of grain loads, and sex workers are also increasingly being used by well-organised syndicates.
Wimpie Nel, a specialist investigator and retired police captain associated with the commercial crime unit, has been investigating grain theft for the past 15 years. As in cattle theft and other rural crimes, he says syndicates are often involved.
One scenario he has encountered involves sex workers asking unsuspecting truck drivers to drop them off at a location where hijackers are waiting.
He has also come across cases where hijackers pose as police officers in vehicles that resemble police vehicles, forcing drivers to stop then stealing the grain.
Nel says some of the high-risk areas for grain theft include Delmas, Bronkhorstspruit, and Secunda in Mpumalanga.
“The major thefts are mostly syndicate-driven but I wouldn’t rule out individual cases. Opportunists often deal with truck hijackings, and in many cases foreigners are involved,” he says. The thieves mainly target maize, wheat and soybeans.
White-collar crime
The syndicates often intercept the identity of a contractor known to the producer or obtain the contractor’s folio number, allowing them to “legally” sell the stolen load to a silo.
Nel urges farmers to verify the identity of any buyer, transport company and truck driver with the contractor to ensure none of these service providers’ identities are forged.
Similarly, any agricultural company should verify who the seller is and whether the seller is an existing supplier. The origin of the load should also be verified.
Since syndicates also recruit silo employees, agricultural companies with silo operations should continuously weigh trucks to ensure stock is not intercepted, Nel advises. They should also conduct load inspections and background checks on all personnel working with the loads to ensure they do not employ individuals with criminal records or syndicate ties.
Market starting to adapt
Nel says the market is starting to adapt to the increased risk of grain theft, with more risk analysis and management of grain loads and prospective clients.
More and more farmers are building silos and even weighbridges on their farms to have better control over the grain stored and transported from the farm.
“But just as farmers and silos are conducting their analysis and countermeasures, so too are the syndicates doing their homework. Therefore, it is important to continuously review and evaluate processes, and this is where I can assist clients,” says Nel.
Difficult to investigate
Nel says grain theft is harder to investigate than stock theft because grain does not have a unique identity like a sheep or cow. “It is therefore particularly difficult to trace stolen grain back to a specific farm or load.”
Furthermore, as with cattle theft, the penalties are not always sufficient to serve as a proper deterrent.
“It is organised crime and should be charged as such, but for various reasons this does not always happen. It is also important to consolidate cases from different districts against the same suspects, but this does not always occur either.”
The level of police cooperation also varies, according to him.
Nel is working on a device that can track grain loads and hopes it will be available by early 2025.
Contact Nel at 083 339 9395.
