ABSTRACT
Organised agriculture plays a significant role in livestock crime prevention in South Africa. AgriSA and Free State Agriculture – a provincial affiliate of AgriSA and the Red Meat Producers Organization – are central to the National Rural Safety Strategy (NRSS). The NRSS focuses on a sector policing approach whereby farming communities are divided into smaller manageable sectors with sector leaders. The NRSS makes provision that farmers can also mobilise the Rural Safety Plan when a livestock theft occurs. Such incidents where mobilisation and subsequent civilian arrests were executed during 2018 and 2019 on livestock theft occurred in the rural areas of Steynsrus, Petrus Steyn and Warden. Livestock theft in the Free State can only be combatted collectively within the NRSS with the involvement of various key stakeholders. Livestock farmers execute core responsibilities to mark and count their stock as reflected in a stock register, comply with applicable legislation and inspect and maintain fences regularly.
