Steenhuisen pushes ‘zero tolerance’ for cattle attacks

Minister of agriculture John Steenhuisen says zero tolerance is needed against stock theft following horrific scenes of stock theft and slaughter that shocked the community of Free State’s Goldfields region.

There has been an outcry from the farming community following a video of slaughtered cattle this week in a third and latest gruesome incident, shortly after two other incidents last month.

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Cattle theft demands serious response

Steenhuisen said an inter-agency approach was needed to send a strong message with harsh convictions for stock theft.

“This is a huge problem. We could be harnessing greater technological advancements around drone technology to assist in patrolling rural areas, particularly when stock theft takes place, to obtain footage that can lead to convictions,” he said.

“At the moment there are minimal consequences for stock thieves,” he added. Steenhuisen said these incidents underpinned why the industry needed a track and trace system for animals.

“Nobody should be able to move animals unless they have the correct paperwork, the animals are tagged and marked and the right permits are obtained,” he said.

Steenhuisen said stock theft damaged the lives and livelihoods of farmers, their ability to earn a living and sell the products into the value chain, which adversely affected consumers.

Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) CEO Francois Rossouw said SA Red Meat reported the third brutal livestock slaughter in the Free State Goldfields region this week. He said on 11 September, cattle belonging to a farmer from the Ventersburg/Virginia area were slaughtered.

Rossouw said the attack follows similar incidents on 24 and 30 August, suspected to have been carried out by the same group.

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Cattle theft a threat to farmers and their livelihood

SA Red Meat managing director JJ de Villiers said this slaughter not only posed a threat to the safety of family farmers and their workers, but also to sustainable farming.

“They have a devastating economic impact on rural communities that are already under immense pressure.

“These criminals must be eradicated at the root and the illegal markets where the meat flows must be dismantled.

“Only when the Saps effectively tackles the zama zama market will these raids be brought to an end,” he said.

TLU SA Free State regional chair Bertus van der Westhuizen said the scale of livestock theft and barbaric attacks had a tremendous impact on agriculture and the wider economy.

“In June alone, more than R9 million worth of livestock was stolen. The cattle were valuable stock and the farmer lost not only his livestock, but also his future production,” he said.

“We are determined to work together with other agricultural organisations to curb this heinous crime and will do everything in our power to hold the culprits accountable.”

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