Subsistent livestock farmer Mokete Seshibe died from a broken heart after cattle thieves made off with her entire herd of 17 cattle.
The pensioner, a resident of Mokomene village, in the Botlokwa area of Limpopo, had invested in cattle breeding, hoping to sell the livestock to pay for her orphaned grandchildren’s higher education fees. Before her passing, she would stare at the empty kraal and ask herself who the thieves are.
The suspects are butchery owners who take advantage of vulnerable communal farmers. Her grandson, Makgopa Seshibe said she had invested a lot in the cattle and her health deteriorated after they were stolen.
“Those cattle were a huge investment for my grandmother. Although they were not that many, for her it was like an empire. She never envisaged her family suffering in future because she had livestock. But when they were stolen, the incident knocked her. She died with a bleeding heart over the loss of such a huge investment,” he said.
Limpopo has been struck by the scourge of the stock theft that has reached worrying proportions recently. The perpetual crime wave has prompted the provincial police and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the National Prosecuting Authority and small-scale farmers to host a Stock Theft Indaba in Seshego, outside Polokwane, last week.
Releasing quarterly crime statistics this week, provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe said the rise in stock theft has sparked concern and needed a comprehensive intervention.
The recent fourth quarter of 2023/24 and the first quarter of the 2024/25 crime statistics reveal a worrying increase in stock theft. In the fourth quarter, there were 6 228 cases nationwide of stock theft, an increase of 5.5% compared to the same period last year.
Kgomoeswana Kgokolo from Seleteng village in the GaMphahlele area, said stock theft in Limpopo has become a nerve-wracking issue among small-scale farmers.
“Stock theft is everywhere and what is even more worrying is that stolen livestock is hardly recovered. We just don’t know where these animals are taken to so quickly” said Kgokolo.
In December, Tlou Moloto of GaMakibelo in Moletjie, was informed that his bull was being slaughtered by a group of young men who are known to be meat traders in the area. Moloto said everyone knows these men sell meat but no one has ever publicly asked the primary source of their suspicious business.
Hadebe said stock theft was a threat that undermines livelihoods and community safety.
“The rise in stock theft across Limpopo is not merely a crime; it is an assault on our livelihoods, our heritage, and our very way of life. Each theft takes away the hope and stability that our agricultural communities strive to maintain,” she said.
The theft of life stock is really living us hopeless as small farmers so many times we have seen goats being transported from Musina to Gauteng and we have tried to stop them but police are not doing anything to arrest these criminals and if I may ask which document must one obtain to move life stock a police affidavit or letter from the department of agriculture, because they are moving these life stock with police affidavits, are the police being educated about life stock movements.?
All police the most go back to school or attaned every workshop….in South Africa we have people whom can teacher or workshop them…I’m taking form experience I have 10years experience working with livestock farms..salution is to Brand Marking livestock is the fist key..