Boteti farmers blamed for harbouring rustlers
Pini Bothoko | Monday July 18, 2022 06:00
Stock theft remains one of the greatest threats to the long-term sustainability of livestock production in Botswana but it is of great concern that some farmers are alleged to be harbouring criminals.
In an interview with Mmegi, the Botswana Police Service (BPS)’ public relations officer, assistant commissioner Dipheko Motube who was heading the operation revealed that a number of stock theft syndicates managed to get away unpunished as farmers were not forthcoming in reporting stock theft incidents. Motube said there were incidents in which they would identify stock theft incidents as the police only for some farmers to later withdraw such cases stating reasons of not having intentions of pursuing them. “We have established that the majority of farmers in Boteti have the habit of hiding theft incidents. They did very little in helping us to curb stock theft in the area.
This culture is a recipe for disaster because it promotes stock theft as such criminals would evade the law and continue stealing other innocent farmers’ livestock. Some cases were never reported while the majority of those that were reported were later withdrawn,” Motube said.
Motube also pointed out that even the culture of responding to police enquiries and prevention measures was a concern amongst some farmers in Boteti as they showed little commitment in that regard. He said the majority of farmers lack responsibility and accountability in branding and earmarking and as a result they end up losing their cattle because they cannot identify them.
He added that some farmers have abandoned their animals and they are failing to take care of their herdsmen because they can spend months without getting paid hence failing to kraal their animals. “We established that the majority of the cattle were not kraaled as they spend most of their time around the Boteti River, which is target for thieves who hang around the area to rustle cattle.
The thieves are using the river as their target spot to round up and steal unbranded cattle,” he said. He further stated that the majority of farmers do not put enough effort in branding their calves popularly known as zero tooth, which are currently the most targeted animals by thieves. Motube stated that unlike in their previous operations in which they managed to arrest a lot of people and recover stolen livestock in numbers, in Boteti area they only recorded 40 cases involving 53 livestock.
He stated that out of the 53 livestock there were 30 cattle, 12 goats, eight horses and three donkeys. However, Motube was happy that their presence was felt because butcheries that thrived on stolen stock for years were struggling and meat prices increased due to their intervention. Additionally, Motube said prior to the launch of the operation, they did enough publicity that was an effective approach as it was a proactive strategy. “We managed to prevent the crime from happening. We hyped the operation for a purpose and I can confidently state to have achieved our goal.
This was an effective move because when you wait for crime to happen and pounce on suspects justice might be prolonged, something that does not benefit farmers in any way,” Motube said.
Motube said they continue to receive reports of stock theft on a daily basis even amongst areas they once held the operation. He said this shows that stock theft has become a well paying job to the perpetrators because the demand for meat remains high especially in urban areas.