Local farmers have voiced frustration over what they describe as an escalating issue, compounded by alleged collusion between residents and organised criminal syndicates from outside the province.

Speaking during the recent departmental budget vote, Community Safety and Transport MEC Wessels Morweng confirmed complaints from farmers remain consistent and serious.

“Farmers in Taung, for instance, have indicated they have traced their livestock in faraway KwaZulu-Natal. Through dockets analysis and crime threat analysis, following arrests in some of the reported cases and in Taung, it has been established that livestock stolen there is sold outside Gauteng and to some auctioneers in the Northern Cape.”

This revelation suggests a broader, more coordinated network of stock theft than previously acknowledged, with stolen cattle and goats not only being moved across provincial borders but also ending up in formal market channels such as auctions.

In the Ngaka Modiri Molema District and parts of Ratlou that share borders with Botswana, stock theft is reportedly also on the rise. A dilapidated and porous border fence is being blamed for the ease with which criminals are able to smuggle livestock across international lines.

Acting Provincial Commissioner Maj. Gen. Patrick Asaneng has engaged with Botswana’s security agencies in an attempt to stem the tide of cross-border theft, Morweng said.

The latest crime stats show the province recorded a 17.1% increase in crimes detected as a result of police actions, equating to 587 more cases where potential crimes were prevented. Among these, police interventions averted 44.5% of what would have been sexual offences.

Regarding the distribution of crime across the province, Bojanala district contributed the highest crime weight at 44%, followed by Dr Kenneth Kaunda (24.9%), Ngaka Modiri Molema (20.4%), and Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati (10.7%).

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi cg