DA welcomes 3-year jail term of former ANC MP for Schweizer-Reneke stock theft

9 May 2023

The DA in North West welcomes the landmark three-year jail sentence handed down yesterday by the Schweizer-Reneke Regional Court to former ANC Member of Parliament, Ms Mapule Veronica Mafolo, and her co-accused, Mr Thabo Freddy Phutiyagae.

The pair were found guilty of stock theft. They stole two Bonsmara calves in January 2018 from a farm in Schweizer-Reneke. The farmer noticed two calves missing, requested his brother to open a case of stock theft at the SAPS, and was later called to the Vryburg Auction Kraal, where he successfully identified his missing calves, and evidence then led to the arrest of the convicted pair.

In December 2022, Ditsobotla ANC Councillor Sibusiso Thamaga was arrested alongside two accomplices for allegedly stealing 24 sheep in Bakerville. In this case, bail has been granted, and the case is before court, but ANC Councillor Thamaga continues to serve in the Ditsobotla Council.

Stock theft is a massive criminal scourge in North West that continues to rob commercial and subsistence farmers of their livestock. That a former member of Parliament and a current serving Councillor could implicate themselves in this sort of criminality despite taking an oath of office to uphold and advance the Constitution, to serve, protect, and nurture the rights of all South Africans, is an absolute disgrace.

ANC politicians and deployed cadres have robbed the taxpayer for years, as evidenced by the Zondo Commission’s report on State Capture. It now seems that stealing taxpayer money is not enough, and ANC politicians and cadres are coming after the livestock of farmers who toil day in and day out under the harshest conditions to put food on the tables of South African families.

Stock theft is an underreported crime since it is usually difficult to prove, especially once the animals have been slaughtered or transported to another province, as well as the lack of capacity by the SAPS to successfully investigate cases due to resource and manpower shortages, and the absence of effective rural safety units that could prevent these crimes from taking place.

This judgement in the Schweizer-Reneke case is a landmark judgement against the scourge of stock theft in the North West. The DA encourages all farmers who suffer stock theft to report these crimes to the SAPS.

For the farmer in Schweizer-Reneke, there is justice.

Issued by Leon Basson, DA North West Provincial Leader, 9 May 2023