Members of three farmers’ associations and the police worked together on Tuesday night to arrest thieves found with more than 100 bags of maize seed.
By Alani Janeke, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
The theft of maize seed took place on a farm near the N1 in the Ventersburg district in the Free State. Soon after, the rural safety response systems in the Viljoenskroon, Vierfontein and Bothaville districts were activated.
Cobus van Coller, a farmer from the Viljoenskroon district, says their local farm watch tracked the suspects’ vehicles on their camera system as they drove through the area with the stolen seed, heading in the direction of Bothaville.
According to Jakkals le Roux, chairperson of Free State Agriculture’s Rural Safety Committee, it appears that the stolen seed was going to be loaded onto a truck near Bothaville, from where it would presumably have been transported further.
Once the Bothaville Farmers’ Association and local police activated their response plan, the two bakkies carrying five suspects were pulled off the road. Three were arrested, while two others escaped and are still being sought.
Le Roux says they suspect that the group forms part of a larger syndicate that has been stealing seed in the Free State and North West in recent weeks.
He congratulated the farmers’ associations and police involved for their cooperation and swift action in apprehending the suspects.
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