Govt Goats Tenders Breeding Theft

| Monday May 27, 2013 00:00

 

It is believed that after winning government tenders for the supply of goats, the syndicate steals the goats and then delivers them in trucks to selected destinations. The recipients of the stock from government are often unaware that these are stolen stock. But after a while the syndicate would hit a kraal belonging to a newly empowered beneficiary of the LIMID programme, who would wake up to an empty kraal. The supplier relocates the goats to another destination for which he has won another government tender.

Some goats belonging to kraals in Otse were recently recovered at kraals in Gantsi where beneficiaries of the LIMID programme innocently believed they were from the government. In Otse, 17 victims of this syndicate have been recorded. The syndicate targets goat kraals in the village and at masimo.

Wood Hall Police deputy station commander, Tebogo Madisa, described the new trend as sophisticated and organised. He says they are still rounding a number of victims whose kraals are now empty.Kgosi Mothusi Tsetse of Otse is shocked at the huge scale of the crime despite the fact that his village is well-manned by the police.Tsetse said on Friday he was visited by a team of police investigators about this stock theft. They also met the victims one-on-one.

Kgosi Tsetse said this type of crime was unknown in their village until recently when the Ministry of Agriculture introduced the LIMID scheme. 'We strongly believe it is tied to the LIMID programme; these are suppliers of small stock who raid our kraals,' he said.Recently government upped the prices for the supply of small stock for goats, which are now going for P1,000 each.