By REGINALD KANYANE
THREE men from Mokassa 2 village in Taung appeared at Taung Magistrate’s Court on Monday for stock-theft. Kenneth Gaoraelwe, Lebogang Seutlwetse and Rebaone Dichaba will be remanded in custody until 9th of November 2017 for formal bail application.
It is alleged that the trio were found in a possession of suspected stolen cattle in Takaneng village, near Taung. The stock-theft police acted on a tip-off and a trap was set.
Meanwhile, North West Premier, Supra Mahumapelo warned livestock thieves. Mahumapelo said their days are numbered and they will work hand-in-hand with law enforcement agencies.
He was addressing media during the launch of the Mabeskraal Livestock Auction Pens recently.
Mahumapelo added that he was aware of the pain farmers feel because of people who steal their livestock daily across the province.
“I want to warn people who specialise in stealing the livestock of our hard working farmers. We are going to work more with our police to look for them and make their lives a living in hell because it cannot be business as usual while we know that there are people who have committed themselves to terrorising our farmers without being caught.
“The auction is established to benefit the communities of Mabeskraal and surrounding villages. The Mabeskraal Auction was yet another delivery of an intervention by the Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development (READ) department to link smallholding farmers to the market,” he said.
A total of 356 livestock were sold at a total turnover of R1.5m during the auction pan launch. For local farmers, the launch remains an ecstatic moment. Chairperson of Moses Kotane Farmers Association, Keitumetse Motsosi, said the auction would not have come at a better time. Having experienced a strain, Motsosi said the difficult market access and unsatisfactory prices had been weighing heavily on farmers.
He said local farmers had always been optimistic about better times as far as their business was concerned because they knew the current government administration priorities. Motsosi said local famers would want to work closely with government to ensure their business was sustainable.
The Premier said the department was on track to making the lives of farmers in Villages, Townships and Small Dorpies (VTSD) easier.
“We want to assist the department to get rid of all the challenges that our farmers are experiencing in their day to day lives and all other things discouraging our farmers. Our department is also moving with the necessary speed in making sure that our farmers are well taken care of and our wish is that all the auctions we are opening are really going to help our farmers,” he said.
As part of the livestock marketing programme in VTSD areas, the department has successfully launched four livestock Auction Pens in Taung Local Municipality and Driefontein (Morokweng, Ganyesa and Bona-Bona).
READ also launched the Provincial Agricultural Growth and Investment Show Livestock Auction in the previous financial year as well as Tshidilamolomo this current year. The province has spent about R 35.5 million to establish and support the livestock auction programme.
MEC for READ, Manketsi Tlhape said the launch of these advanced village-based livestock auctions continue to record satisfactory turnover, resulting in a need for similar auctions across the province.
“Our farmers and local people, especially in our villages, are embracing these auctions because of they are open, affordable and discourage people from buying stolen livestock. These auctions also play a role in educating our people in our villages, townships and small dorpies that farming is not a game but it is real business,” she said.
Newly elected Provincial Chairperson of the North West House of Traditional Leaders, Kgosi Moshe Mabe, welcomed the launch of the auctions saying they would help livestock farmers in villages.
“We are also excited about the auctions programme that our provincial government is embarking on to better the lives of the farmers, especially in our villages. As traditional leaders we also want to commend the department for speedily implementing the programme which has already started to benefit our people,” he said.
The Guardian 