Africa-Press – Eswatini. Cattle worth E15 million were stolen and rustled across to the Republic of South Africa last year.
This was disclosed by Senior Deputy National Commissioner Emmanuel Sula Dlamini, during a courtesy call and working visit to the South African Police Service (SAPS) Mpumalanga Provincial Head Office on Wednesday.
It was said Eswatini lost 1 815 cattle in 2023. The purpose of the meeting was to collectively discuss and come up with dynamic and adaptable strategies aimed at ensuring that the porous nature of the borderline was not exploited by criminal elements in the way it patently was now.
“The borderline that separates our jurisdictions has become the epicentre of a myriad of cross-border crimes that have adversely affected the communities we exist to serve, to an extent that they now question our capability and relevance, as the crime onslaught continues without abating.
“The common concerns about our borderlines to both institutions are varied as noted, and include drug trafficking, illicit trafficking of persons, illicit firearms, theft of motor vehicles and armed robberies,” Dlamini said. Dlamini added that, given the importance of cattle to ordinary emaSwati as a source and symbol of wealth, to have stock theft spiralling in the manner in which Eswatini witnessed, was an absolute disaster.
“It is no longer even theft in the true sense of the term, but it has escalated to brazenness and impunity, as organised syndicates operating in both countries, now literally and forcefully drive cattle from the grazing land or kraal enclosures within homesteads, to readily available markets across the borderline,” he said. Dlamini went on to say there was a huge hue and cry among farmers about the situation, hence, the critical need to come up with solutions to the problem.
He said what aggravated the farmers’ pain and frustration was that even when they attempted to follow the trail of their stolen livestock, sometimes even when accompanied by the police, they were threatened and stopped in their tracks through the invoking of difficult-to-adhere-to legal requirements in the circumstances of a live unfolding crime. The senior deputy national commissioner pointed out that having a meeting of this nature was within the spirit of SARPCCO, the regional policing cooperation body, of which both the REPS and SAPS are members.
Combating
He also said among other pertinent points, that SARPCCO espoused cooperation and mutual assistance in combating cross-border crimes among member police services and or countries. “Over and above regional policing frameworks, there is also a memorandum of understanding (MoU) entered into between the two police services in 2017, whose objectives cover inter alia; shared mechanisms for combating cross-border crime, which includes conducting joint operations and exchange of information, experiences and best practices,” he explained.
In addition, Dlamini also said the meeting was anchored on solid bilateral policing grounds, and that should serve as a springboard to tackle the crime challenges impacting the security and economic stability of our countries.
Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni, said police conducted an operation together with members of the community to protect cattle from being trafficked to neighbouring countries.
She said while continuing with their operation, they came across men trying to smuggle cattle to SA. She said after being seen by the said cattle smugglers, they opened gunfire at them, forcing them to retaliate. “During the exchange of gunfire between the police and the said men, no one died as they fled to South Africa empty-handed,” she said.
Mnguni said 18 cattle were recovered after that incident.
Previously, former Mhlambanyatsi Inkhundla Member of Parliament (MP) Petros Mavimbela, once said the issue of not having a fence in some parts of the country like Lundzi, made it easier for thieves to smuggle cattle out of the country. Mavimbela said over 1 000 cattle worth over E 1 million had been stolen thus far in that area.
He said they reported the matter to the government regarding the challenges they faced. He said this after he was asked whether they reported to the government about the challenges they encountered. He then pleaded with government to act fast in ensuring that the borderline fences, that had been destroyed for a long time, were put into place again to combat the crime, which he said was now rife in the area.
Meanwhile, the Senior Deputy National Commissioner, Dlamini, also highlighted that there has been a notable increase in the number of murders committed by ‘assassins-for-hire’, who operate across Eswatini and South African borders. Dlamini said besides armed robbery, ‘assassins-for-hire’ operating in both countries had posed an emerging security concern within the region. “In our local jurisdiction, there was a case where hit men from South Africa were hired to kill a popular football administrator, Victor Gamedze, on January 14, 2018,” Dlamini said.
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