By 
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Free State has expressed concern over the conviction rate on stock theft, a crime that is costing farmers about one billion a year.
The farming industry in the province has been doing well and is the second largest contributor towards the national GDP in the farming sector, however, cross-border stock theft has been rife in the province with very little or close to none borders or fence between Lesotho and South Africa.
The DA posed questions to the Free State MEC for Community Safety, Roads and Transport, Mr Jabu Mbalula in legislature concerning stock theft, in his reply, Mbalula said in the past two and a half years, from 2023 to date in 2025, a total of 6 390 cases of stock theft were reported to the SAPS, of which 1768 were prosecuted with 587 convictions. This comes down to an average prosecution rate of 27,7% and a conviction rate of only 9%.
Reacting to the reply, the Leader of the DA in the Free State Dr Roy Jankielsohn said stock theft remains a serious economic concern for the agricultural community in the Free State. He said commercial, emerging, and commonage farmers are affected by this scourge, which has devastating impacts on their livelihoods. Cross-border crime along the border with Lesotho is of particular concern.
According to Jankielsohn, the agricultural organisation, Free State Agriculture, has estimated the direct cost of stock theft to be about one billion rand per annum. Additional costs carried by farmers who can afford this include drones, security cameras, security personnel and patrols.
“Many incidents of stock theft go unreported due to slow reaction times by under-resourced stock theft units that are often far from crime scenes. Other factors include low detection, prosecution and conviction rates. Farmers do not have time to sit and wait in courts only to have cases postponed or rejected by the courts due to a lack of evidence.
The Lesotho border has no fence, poor border roads and ineffective, and in most places non-existent, border-line security that leaves communities along this border open to cross-border crimes. Criminals from Lesotho commit crimes in South Africa and disappear undetected across the border with livestock, vehicles, humans and other criminal plunder,” said Dr Roy Jankielsohn.
“The DA has a comprehensive rural safety strategy that includes intelligence-driven crime prevention, the expanded use of technology and specialised response teams. Our agricultural sector remains a national and provincial assets that deserve the protection and support from the government,” he concluded.
