By Vida Booysen
“Allegations that some police officers are assisting cattle theft syndicates are deeply concerning and painful to hear,” said Senzu Mchunu, Minister of Police, following a meeting with stakeholders in the Free State. Several speakers at the meeting, which was attended by many provincial executive council members and senior police officials who took notes, expressed their lack of confidence in the police’s ability to combat cattle theft.
The meeting invited participants to share their suggestions for combating cattle theft. One by one, members of organisations like the African Farmers Association of South Africa (Afasa) presented incidents in which the police either failed to properly investigate their complaints or where cattle theft syndicates seemingly gained the upper hand in the struggle.
Some speakers even claimed that they and their families faced threats from cattle thieves after filing complaints. “The community knows who the raiders are, and we will share that information with the police if we feel safe enough to do so. You pass the information to the police, and then you receive a call from the very person who stole your livestock, threatening you,” said France Diale from Baruwi ba Sekhukhune in Limpopo.
He recounted that cattle thieves in the Ephraim Mogale District Municipality murdered a grandmother and her grandchild before setting their house on fire. He said that although the situation has improved after intervention from the police’s top management in Limpopo, local farmers are requesting more visible policing, particularly at livestock auctions, and that animals with fresh, new brands not be accepted for sale.
James Faber, national chairman of the Red Meat Producers Organisation, also called for more visible policing and urgently urged the police to establish additional roadblocks to prevent livestock from being smuggled out of foot-and-mouth disease areas on the backs of pickup trucks and trailers and then sold elsewhere in South Africa. “We must keep foot-and-mouth disease out of the rest of the country.”
Jane Buys, a security risk analyst for Free State Agriculture (VL), stated in her proposal to the Minister that the most effective way to prevent cattle theft is to stop it before it happens. “The most critical link here is the rural safety coordinators. Every police station in rural and semi-rural areas is expected to have such a coordinator whose job description focuses entirely on rural safety. This individual must have a dedicated vehicle to reach the farms, conduct patrols, and ensure greater visibility. We also request that these individuals receive training in the initial investigation of cattle theft cases.”
Lack of personnel
Buys emphasised that noticeable reductions in cattle theft occur in regions where station commanders actively appoint a rural safety coordinator and ensure they perform their duties effectively.
She also requested an increase in detectives assigned to cattle theft units. “Ten years ago, there were 11 cattle theft units in the Free State, each made up of 10 to 15 detectives. Currently, some units have only two detectives and lack vehicles.”
Part of the solution to the insufficient number of personnel and vehicles for cattle theft units involves farmers reporting cases of cattle theft, even if it seems time-consuming or pointless to them, said Jason Kümm, rural safety officer of AgriSA, in an interview with landbou.com.
“It is crucial for us, as farmers, to reaffirm our working relationship with the police and report any crime. Additionally, report it to your local agricultural association’s office so we can address it with the police. Keep in mind that law enforcement allocates resources based on the crime statistics in an area. If no crimes are reported, it appears that nothing has occurred, and resources will not be distributed accordingly.”
In response to the proposals and complaints, Mchunu called for greater cooperation among community members affected by cattle theft. “I hear various individuals bringing complaints forward, but there is not one general rural organisation, like a taxi association that represents taxi owners, which speaks on behalf of the rural community regarding cattle theft.”
He warned that cattle thieves are highly organised, armed, and mobile. “If we want to fight them, we must be prepared. It doesn’t help if we encounter each other for the first time here at a meeting of stakeholders.”
Mchunu acknowledged that the current rural safety strategy may require revision. “Most of you have not mentioned it in your accounts. Therefore, we must determine if this strategy still addresses the issues on the ground.”
Beware of taking the law into your own hands
In response to farmers’ allegations at the meeting that they are arrested when taking the law into their own hands against cattle thieves, Senzu Mchunu, Minister of Police, asked his top officials to clarify how cases are handled when farmers apprehend cattle thieves themselves or when they defend themselves (see video below).
In their answers, Generals Fannie Masemola and Shadrack Sibiya warned against vigilante justice, where community members use excessive force to apprehend alleged offenders or take the law into their own hands.
“If you rally the community and attack the alleged offender with maximum force, you compel the police to exercise the law against you. The community may only assist you in capturing the offender, not in stoning him to death,” Sibiya said.
