Community Safety, Roads, and Transport MEC, Jabu Mbalula, and Deputy Provincial Commissioner, Solly Lesia, presented first-quarter 2024/25 crime statistics in Bloemfontein on Friday (18/9).

The statistics show a worrying 3.46% increase in stock theft as 25 more cases were reported in the province than in the previous quarter. At the recent Rural Safety Summit, it was decided to prioritise stock theft due to its far-reaching impact on the farming community, said Mbalula.

“We resolved to deploy interventions we believed would show positive results for the past quarter (July to September).” Resources to combat aggravated robberies would also be deployed to improve rural safety, particularly to tackle stock theft.

Mbalula pointed out the sophisticated nature of these crimes, especially those involving animals and farm equipment smuggled into Lesotho. One shocking case involved the theft of a TLB (tractor loader backhoe), which was taken across the border.

He called for a facility to be established to keep recovered stolen animals while investigations proceed.

Free State MEC for Community Safety, Roads and Transport, Jabu Mbalula. Photo supplied

“Stock theft is a serious crime cutting across racial lines,” Mbalula said, as both commercial and emerging farmers are victims. Without effective intervention from law enforcement agencies, stock theft could seriously harm the rural economy.

He also raised concerns about South Africans employing undocumented foreign nationals, claiming often facilitate livestock theft, making it easier for stolen animals to be transported across borders undetected.

 OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi dg