Five times thieves made off with livestock

Newly-wed presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko is the latest victim of stock theft.

The fear of stock theft is real and justified, not just for farmers, but also for families who receive live cows for lobola, as is evident in these five instances in which thieves made off with livestock.

Thieves unfazed by “ancestors’ wrath”

The family of newly-wed presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko says the men who stole 24 cattle that were given to the family as lobola for her “had no respect for the sacredness of lobola”.

According to SowetanLIVE, the cows were stolen while grazing in a nearby field on December 27 2018. 

Eastern Cape police have since arrested the suspects and recovered the cattle. 

The family is happy the cows have been returned safely, but remarked that the thieves showed “no fear of the ancestors’ wrath”.

Two men found with 11 slaughtered sheep

In October 2018, DispatchLIVE reported that the Mthatha Stock Theft Unit had arrested two men, aged 22 and 24, in connection with the slaughter of 11 sheep.

The suspects appeared at the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on charges of stock theft.

Stock theft charges catch up with suspect on the run

In 2017, AgriSA noted that 70 percent of farms were targeted by criminals, with the most common crime being stock theft.

Livestock remained a target for criminals throughout 2018.

In October, the law finally caught up with a suspect on the run from stock theft charges.

Police in King William’s Town arrested the 32-year old man at his home in Ndakana Village.

Five men risk it all for fresh beef

In May last year, five men were arrested in the Eastern Cape while transporting a freshly slaughtered cow. 

SAPS spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said: “It is suspected that the cow was slaughtered during the night in Alexandria area and was being transported to the Motherwell area.”

Coffin doesn’t scare cattle thieves

Eastern Cape farmer Frans Kruger resorted to propping up a black coffin on his property to deter thieves, but that didn’t work.

Since installing the coffin, Kruger and his farmer neighbours have lost more than 50 animals to livestock thieves.

Kruger said: “I have done everything I could, but they just won’t stop and what I want to emphasise is that the thieves are not only targeting white farmers, but everyone who owns livestock.”