- Farming, Red Meat Portfolio
In recent months, the Commercial Farmers of the Ugie, Maclear (Nqanqarhu), and Elliot (Khowa) areas have been under threat with stock thieves running rampant through the area.
The Farmers and members of Agri Eastern Cape reached out to Agri EC to assist and intervene at a Provincial level as this situation has reached dire straits. Thankfully, these same members have been reporting stock theft incidences to the Agri Ops Coordination Centre on a regular basis which gave Agri EC the ammunition needed to approach the SAPS with the concern.
Agri EC Chairman of Rural Safety, Coert Jordaan, arranged with the SAPS to conduct a special stock theft operation in the affected areas during the month of June and which has been a massive success!
The operation ran for two weeks and resulted in the recovery of over 512 animals consisting of cattle, sheep, and goats. The total estimated value of the recovered stock has already exceeded R2 700 000.00
This operation was coordinated with local Stock Theft Units, SAPS Stations, and additional SAPS resources brought into the area to assist. That saw a collective team effort from 12 SAPS Stations and 7 Stock Theft Units.
Agri Eastern Cape would like to thank the SAPS for the efforts, results, and good honest police work that was conducted during this special operation.
Approximately 124 head of cattle, 167 sheep, and 221 goats were recovered and either impounded or returned to the rightful owners during this operation. This excludes the carcasses that were also recovered.
Below image from EarthRanger – the data collection tool used in the Agri Ops Coordination centre that operates 24/7 to assist the Members of Agri Eastern Cape – the image illustrates the impact of the successes of this operation.
