Central SA
Suspects in botched FS stock theft still at large─── OLEBOGENG MOTSE 09:52 Sun, 06 Feb 2022
The suspects behind the attempted theft of 70 cattle from Ontevrede farm, outside Odendaalsrus, are still at large.
Free State police spokesperson, Stephen Thakeng, tells OFM News that six of the cattle were already slaughtered by the time they were discovered by police 8 km from the farm and reclaimed by their owner on Friday, 4 February.
According to Thakeng, the authorities alongside the farmer traced the animals by following the tracks on the ground on the same day they went missing.
READ: All #StockTheft cases should be reported to SAPS
Whilst stock theft remains a serious problem costing the farming community more than R1 billion annually, the Free State and North West saw the largest percentage drop in stock theft cases over the 2020/21 period. This was according to the annual figures by the National Stock Theft Prevention Forum (NSTPF).
The Free State saw a 23,39% decline, whereas the number of reported stock theft incidents in the North West dropped by 31,76%.
The overall picture changed slightly when you focused not only on the percentages but the actual number of stock theft cases reported.
Then the Free State comes ahead of the North West, whilst the Eastern- and Western Cape revealed a far more significant drop in cases than what the percentages suggest.
OFM News
