TLU SA has made an urgent appeal to farmers in the Goldfields area to work together and strengthen security structures after shocking footage of 12 cattle that were mutilated and slaughtered in the veld early on Wednesday.
It is suspected that the slaughterings happen to obtain meat for illegal miners.
According to TLU SA, the crime, which took place on a farm between Ventersburg and Virginia, follows similar attacks on other farms in the area on August 24 and 30, allegedly by the same cattle thieves.
The National Stock Theft Prevention Forum, Red Meat Producers Organisation (RPO) and SA Red Meat (SARMC) said the animals' heel and neck tendons were cut. Some were still alive, others were already dead, and some of them had already been butchered.
The regional chairperson of TLU SA Free State, Bertus van der Westhuizen, said they are determined to hold the perpetrators accountable
“It is disturbing that such cruel criminals are still roaming free. We call on the authorities to act decisively and ensure these criminals are swiftly put behind bars. The laws violated here, including trespassing, animal cruelty, cattle theft and trading in stolen goods, must be strictly enforced, and the culprits must receive harsh sentences,” said Van der Westhuizen.
RPO and SARMC said the slaughterings are not only a threat to sustainable farming and the spillover economic effect on the rural areas but also to the safety of the farmer and farm workers.
“We would like to appeal to farmers in the area to give urgent attention to the issue by working together to establish controllable compartments to combat and help prevent this crime. This is also a serious call on the SA Police Service to not only be helpful with the immediate problem but also to pay more attention to the existence and actions of zama zamas in the Goldfields area and nationally. A tighter focus on and action against zama zamas will limit livestock theft and improve the safety of farmers, farm workers and the public,” said the organisations.
According to TLU SA, “these mutilated cattle were valuable breeding stock, and the farmer has not only lost his livestock but also his future production”.
The organisation said the scale of cattle theft, totalling more than R9m in June alone, affects agriculture and the broader economy.
Prof Andries Raath, RPO vice-chairperson in the Free State, said of livestock theft: “Syndicates are also involved in this. This has become a vast business. The loss of all categories of stock are almost R10m in August this year. When you look at that from an annual perspective we are talking about R120m, and this is only in the Free State.”
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Cattle mutilations ‘by thieves wanting meat for zama zamas’ appall farmers
Image: Ayman Al-Sahili/Reuters/File
TLU SA has made an urgent appeal to farmers in the Goldfields area to work together and strengthen security structures after shocking footage of 12 cattle that were mutilated and slaughtered in the veld early on Wednesday.
It is suspected that the slaughterings happen to obtain meat for illegal miners.
According to TLU SA, the crime, which took place on a farm between Ventersburg and Virginia, follows similar attacks on other farms in the area on August 24 and 30, allegedly by the same cattle thieves.
The National Stock Theft Prevention Forum, Red Meat Producers Organisation (RPO) and SA Red Meat (SARMC) said the animals' heel and neck tendons were cut. Some were still alive, others were already dead, and some of them had already been butchered.
The regional chairperson of TLU SA Free State, Bertus van der Westhuizen, said they are determined to hold the perpetrators accountable
“It is disturbing that such cruel criminals are still roaming free. We call on the authorities to act decisively and ensure these criminals are swiftly put behind bars. The laws violated here, including trespassing, animal cruelty, cattle theft and trading in stolen goods, must be strictly enforced, and the culprits must receive harsh sentences,” said Van der Westhuizen.
RPO and SARMC said the slaughterings are not only a threat to sustainable farming and the spillover economic effect on the rural areas but also to the safety of the farmer and farm workers.
“We would like to appeal to farmers in the area to give urgent attention to the issue by working together to establish controllable compartments to combat and help prevent this crime. This is also a serious call on the SA Police Service to not only be helpful with the immediate problem but also to pay more attention to the existence and actions of zama zamas in the Goldfields area and nationally. A tighter focus on and action against zama zamas will limit livestock theft and improve the safety of farmers, farm workers and the public,” said the organisations.
According to TLU SA, “these mutilated cattle were valuable breeding stock, and the farmer has not only lost his livestock but also his future production”.
The organisation said the scale of cattle theft, totalling more than R9m in June alone, affects agriculture and the broader economy.
Prof Andries Raath, RPO vice-chairperson in the Free State, said of livestock theft: “Syndicates are also involved in this. This has become a vast business. The loss of all categories of stock are almost R10m in August this year. When you look at that from an annual perspective we are talking about R120m, and this is only in the Free State.”
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