Almost 64,000 cases of livestock theft were reported in the Eastern Cape in the past decade, with 6,800 reported in the 2019/20 financial year, making the province the stock theft capital of SA.
A total of eight of the 10 police stations which recorded most stock theft cases in SA are in the province.
This comes as Ntandokazi Xoliswa Mbombo, the suspected mastermind behind a stock theft syndicate in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, is facing a litany of charges in different courts in the two provinces, where she is accused of being the brains behind the theft of stock worth hundreds of thousands of rand.
Since the 2010/11 financial year, provincial police revealed on Friday that there were 63,703 livestock theft cases reported in the province.
Safety and liaison MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe said the figure was a “real concern and unacceptably high”.
Tabling the provincial crime statistics at the police headquarters in Zwelitsha on Friday, the acting provincial head of crime registrar, Col Kevin Moodley, said stock theft figures had been on a decline in the first five years of this decade, before shooting up drastically.
In the 2010/11 financial year, Moodley said, 6,854 cases of stock theft had been reported in the province.
That figure decreased to 6,839 the next year, while in 2015/16, the figure decreased to its all-time low of 5,809.
Then 6,217 cases were reported in 2017/18, 6,736 the next year, and 6,800 in the year under review.
The Sulenkama police station in Qumbu has the unwanted tag of being the station in SA with the most stock theft cases.
At that station, Moodley said, 358 cases were reported in the year under review. This is an increase of 106 cases compared with the previous financial year, where 252 cases were recorded.
The stations in KwaBhaca, Bityi, Katkop, Mthatha, Qumbu, Maluti and Tsolo are the others in the top 10.
Moodley said 2,989 cases related to theft of sheep, 2,466 to cattle theft, while 1,003 cases recorded related to the theft of goats, 327 for horses, 146 for pigs, and 87 for poultry.
Tikana-Gxothiwe said they were concerned about the high number of stock theft cases.
“Our aim is to ensure that being the livestock theft capital is not a title we wear for long.
“I am particularly touched by this because I know that for many in our province, it is through livestock farming that they are able to put food on the table and are able to send their children to school,” she said.
Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Liziwe Ntshinga said fighting stock theft was one of their priorities.
Ntshinga said a number of strategies were being employed in a bid to curb the scourge.
Moodley said recorded cases of murder, rape, sexual offences, common robbery, drug-related crimes and robbery at residential premises had decreased in the year under review, while cases of attempted murder, common assault and truck hijackings had increased during the same period.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.