Hefty penalties to deter stock theft
STOCK theft is one of Eswatini farmers’ worst nightmares as they lose cattle and goats worth millions of Emalangeni each year.
In previous consultations with the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers mentioned that the penalties under the Stock Theft Act of 1982 are too low and do not serve as a deterrent to would-be offenders.
The Ministry of Agriculture said it is collaborating with the Attorney General’s office to amend the Act. Section 4 of the Act states that “any person who is found in possession of stock or produce regarding which there is a reasonable suspicion that it has been stolen and is on a request by a police officer, unable to disclose to such police officer the source from which such stock or produce has been obtained shall be guilty of an offence.”
Section 18 (1) stated that “a person convicted of an offence under Section 4 in relation to any cattle, sheep, goat, pig or domesticated ostrich shall be liable to imprisonment for a period of not less than two years without the option of a fine or five years without a fine in respect to a subsequent offence.
But in either case, no period of imprisonment shall exceed ten years, provided that if the court convicting the person is satisfied that there are extenuating circumstances in connection with the commission of such offence, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding E2,000 or 10 years.”
Section 18 (2) states that “any person who is convicted of an offence under this Act, other than under the provisions referred to in subsection (1) shall be liable to a fine of E200 or to be imprisoned for a period of 12 months.”
Minister of Agriculture Mandla Tshawuka stated that the Ministry has to be assisted by all stakeholders in applying its legislation including animal identification, branding, ear-tagging, using stock removal permits and following slaughter guidelines.
During its budget debate, the ministry was questioned about what it was also doing to control stock theft and fixing dilapidated cordon fences.
Minister Tshawuka said the cording fencing is a national project that has to prioritise specific areas to start. At the time, the focus prioritises the Lubombo region due to the highest risk of Foot and Mouth Disease and stock theft.
“It is currently implemented as Sitsatsaweni moving north towards Mhlumeni. The whole of Eswatini has this demand for fencing, but our budget constrains us to limited areas at a time. The whole cordon line will be rehabilitated pending the availability of funds,” he said.
The Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) reported an increase of 11.6 per cent in the theft of livestock cases with 134 suspects arrested during the 2023/24 period.
Cattle and goats were the most stolen, during the period with a value of E17.01 million respectively. According to the 2023/24 Annual Performance report by the REPS, most of these crimes were committed by cross-border syndicates, therefore the police service has upscaled intelligence-led interventions including multilateral collaborations with neighbouring countries as an endeavour to mitigate the scourge.
The stock theft unit has been strengthened through the infusion of manpower and requisite resources. During the period, 543 cases of cattle were reported with 1,488 livestock stolen valued at E13.4 million. Of these, 211 were recovered in Eswatini and 67 in neighbouring countries. There were 36 arrests.
Meanwhile, 479 goats’ cases were stolen with 3,081 livestock stolen valued at E3.5 million. 263 were recovered in the country and 12 in neighbouring countries. There were 32 arrests. The recovered cattle and goats were valued at E2.5 million respectively.