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Cow barn at the Concordia farm where thieves are tearing off the corrugated iron roof.
- Three cows and five calves have been stolen from the Concordia farm in Paul Roux.
- The cattle were found hiding in a makeshift kraal on a mountain on a nearby farm.
- The latest stock theft comes as farmers in the eastern Free State express concern about stock theft syndicates in the area.
As the threat rises from cattle theft syndicates in the eastern Free State, following the murder of farm manager Brendin Horner, three cows and five calves have been stolen from a farmer in Paul Roux.
Just hours after Bheki Cele Police Minister and State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo met with farmers in Bethlehem, where concerns about cattle theft were aired, an unknown number of thieves made their way to Concordia, the same agricultural area where Horner was killed on October 1. .
Arthur Macaskill, who rents the farm, said the cattle thieves were believed to have managed to enter the farm between Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.
Around 08:00, Macaskill received a call from his neighbor about the fences that had been cut on his farm.
The Macaskill farm manager then checked the Concordia farm and found that several fences had been cut and three cows and five calves were missing from one of the paddocks.
READ | Senekal riots: ‘We have a multitude of thieves in this area’, say farmers
Macaskill then traced the trails through two farms to a farm called Riga, which is adjacent to the N5 that divides through Senekal, Paul Roux, and Bethlehem.
When the tracks disappeared at the foot of a mountain on the Riga farm, Macaskill hired a drone to search for the cattle.
Paul Roux’s mountain in the Riga farm where stolen cattle were hiding. (Alex Mitchley, News24)
News24 News24 / Alex Mitchley
“We sent a drone to investigate what was happening and then we discovered that there were enclosures where cattle were being kept,” Macaskill said.
“The robbers fled when they saw the drone and the next minute, we saw the cattle running down the mountain.”
The distance from the Concordia farm, where the cattle were stolen, to the mountain at the Riga farm, is about 6 km in a straight line.
At the same time, Paul Roux’s rural security coordinator, Sergeant Fusi Masweu, who helped Macaskill track down the missing cattle, also climbed the mountain in search of the cattle.
“While searching the top of the mountain, stolen cattle were found hidden in the kraals behind the mountain,” provincial police spokesman Brigadier Motantsi Makhele told News24.
Image of a makeshift kraal drone where stolen cattle were hiding on top of the mountain. (Herman Greyling, supplied)
Drone image of the covered area from where the cattle were stolen at the Concordia farm to the mountain at the Riga farm where they were recovered. (Herman Greyling, supplied)
“He (Masweu) really went out of his way to help us, he helped us a lot,” Macaskill said.
Macaskill praised the police officer who went out of his way to help. He was off duty when they called for help.
Macaskill eventually recovered the stolen cattle.
Makhele said there was a case of cattle theft, but no arrests were made.
VERIFICATION OF FACTS | What we know, and what we don’t know, about the death of Brendin Horner
Shattered and dispossessed farm
However, although he has been fortunate not to have been a constant target of cattle thieves, he reported that the farm buildings had been vandalized and dismantled.
The corrugated iron roof was stripped from the cow sheds, while pipes, cylinders, and an engine from the farm’s five windmills were eventually stolen.
Cow barn on Concordia farm that has been robbed by thieves. (Alex Mitchley, News24)
As a tenant, it has been a difficult task informing the owners that the farm is being dismantled. You cannot approach burglars who break into the property at night because you pose an additional danger to the well-being of your workers and yourself.
“It is difficult to come and investigate because I do not want my staff to be attacked and have more problems with thieves.”
A gun safe in the now abandoned farm that was broken into at the Concordia farm. (Alex Mitchley, News24)
News24 News24 / Alex Mitchley
READ | Brendin Horner murder: ‘We saw it coming, we prayed and nothing happened’ – farmers tell Cele
Horner Stock Theft and Homicide Syndicates
Horner, who worked at the Bloukruin Farm in Paul Roux, was brutally murdered by suspected cattle thieves.
Since then it has been revealed that the men arrested for the murder have been in trouble with the law. A man was convicted of stock theft on different occasions.
Following Horner’s assassination, there were also revelations of stock theft syndicates operating in the area resulting in significant financial losses for local farmers.
Bethlehem Agricultural Union and Security President Herkie Viljoen told Cele that losses from stock theft amounted to more than 1 million rand a month in the area.
Cele promised to investigate the unions and allegations of police involvement.
