Stock theft costs SA billions every year
There were 29,000 cases of stock theft in the last financial year, and things are only getting worse
The KwaZulu-Natal government and local farmers say stock theft is costing the country, and its provinces billions of rand, and is also affecting the local agricultural economy. Police and farmers say stock theft is more prevalent in areas such as Bulwer, Ixopo, Mpendle and Mzimkhulu as well as areas bordering Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland. A recent study conducted by a team of academics from Unisa found that there were more than 29,000 cases of stock theft reported in SA in the last financial year. Willie Clack, an academic at Unisa, told Business Day that stock theft resulted in a loss of about R1.3bn to the farming community in that year. Clack also runs the website stocktheftprevent.co.za to alert farmers and the police about hot-spots and the modus operandi of the stock thieves. He said these figures show a sharp rise in comparison to a study they did in 2012, which found that stock theft had resulted in the loss of R486.6m in the period under review. Subsistence farmers are...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.