Agriculture
Cattle, spinach top the criminal "shopping list"─── 15:46 Mon, 29 Jun 2015
Bloemfontein - Thieves in the Free State steal more cattle and spinach than any other stock or crop commodity.
This is according to a report by Free State Agriculture (FSA) analysing the Stats SA “Victims of Crime Survey”, which was conducted between April 2012 and February 2014.
FSA says 10 000 Free State households experienced stock theft at least once, with more than 2000 provincial households reporting at least one instance of theft of crops.
The survey found that cattle are stolen most, at just over 45%, followed by chickens, at nearly 28%, and sheep at slightly over 16%. Looking at crops, spinach is the most stolen item, at nearly 39%, followed by pumpkins at just over 27% and fruit at nearly 18%.
The report states that the direct and indirect value of these losses amounts to about R323 million.
Source: FSA
