Two alleged cattle thieves ran into trouble when the stock theft unit in the Free State Goldfields caught them with three allegedly stolen Bonsmara bulls.
Tumelo Nyakane (41) and Mokhachane Dlamini (67) appeared in the magistrate’s court in Odendaalsrus. They face charges of possession of presumably stolen livestock.
According to a police statement, the stock theft unit received information about stolen livestock allegedly being transported between Wesselbron and Odendaalsrus. An investigation was conducted and a suspicious truck was intercepted. The driver allegedly could not produce documentation for the cattle it was carrying.
Thanks to the brand marks on the three Bonsmara bulls, the police were able to contact the owners and return the animals. The combined value of the stud bulls is about R400 000.
Stock thieves are active in this area, and according to Dr Jane Buys, security risk analyst for Free State Agriculture, the organisation welcomes the arrests. However, she points out that the scope of stock theft in the province is much larger and more complex than this one incident.
“Organised crime syndicates with tentacles in other provinces are involved in stock theft on a large scale. We want the police to thoroughly investigate the organised nature of the stock theft so that we can expose not just individuals, but the syndicates as a whole.”
To do this, she said, will require investigating the connections between cases, effectively opposing bail, and involving the Asset Forfeiture Unit to seize assets such as trucks used to transport stolen animals.
Buys says there is a major shortage of detectives and vehicles for stock theft units in the province, and she estimates that there are between 30% and 50% too few for the investigative work the units must do.
As indicated in a statement about the serious problem in the neighbouring town of Bultfontein, Free State Agriculture says less than 12% of reported stock theft cases lead to arrests.
Buys said there was a need for better analysis, integration and coordination in the investigations of all stock theft cases so syndicates can be tackled.
