Afrikaans
Although livestock theft remains a crime that has detrimental economic, emotional and psychological effects on the agricultural community, the National Stock Theft Provision Forum (NSTPF) was pleased to find that the number of cases reported decreased in all provinces in South Africa for the period 2019/20 to 2020/21.
The NSTPF is responsible for the yearly overview of livestock theft crime statistics as one of its many objectives. This decision was made after the South African Police Service (SAPS) announced to release statistics on a quarterly basis as of 2020.
The decrease in the numbers of livestock theft
North West (31,76%), the Free State (23,39%), Limpopo (21,26%) and Mpumalanga (20,95%) were the four provinces with the largest decreases. Nationally, there is a decrease of 12,78% in the number of livestock thefts reported.
It is important to note that these percentages are not as significant, as it remains a challenge to work with these percentages.
What contributed to the drop in the number of cases?
Although the reasons for these decreases are not as obvious, it could be attributed to improved security systems and crime prevention strategies, CCTV technology, Covid-19, media exposure and in some cases livestock theft is not reported.
Hotspots in South Africa with the number of reported cases
The Eastern Cape remains a hotspot, with regions such as Qumbu, Mthatha, Amangwe, Dannhauser and Sulenkama. Kwazulu-Natal is also regarded as a hotspot. It is important to note that the economic impact of livestock theft is always of great importance.
The economic impact of livestock theft
In the 2020/21 book year R1 107 644 600 was lost due to livestock theft compared to the R1 142 385 600 lost in 2017/18. The economic impact on livestock producers is 6% compared to the number of cases that decreased by 12,78%.
Read more here on AgriOrbit: https://bit.ly/3gsJFB3
