On the night of 21 March 2021, at 22:00, Bassopa Security and Tracking team observed a SAPS vehicle in the Tweeling district, in the Free State province of South Africa, that dropped off a suspect at a farm. Later the following morning at about 01:00 the same vehicle returned to the farm to collect the suspect.
Bassopa Security and Tracking team, along with the SAPS stock theft unit from Vrede and local farmers moved in and cornered the vehicle and arrested the two suspects.
Three stolen sheep, two of which were already slaughtered, were recovered.
One of the arrested suspects is reported to be the acting head of the Tweeling police station and the other suspect was identified as a previously sentenced stock thief.
Senior management from the SAPS and the stock theft unit are investigating the case.
Local farmers, who for a long time have been requesting assistance with regard allegations that the police are involved in large scale stock theft, are determined to oppose bail when the suspect appears in court.
But is anything being done to curb the corrupt activities of the police and the allegations of their involvement in these cases?
Farmers in the East Free State say the brutal murder of the 21 year old Brendin Horner would not have taken place if the Hawks acted on a detailed report containing the names of a local stock theft syndicate provided to a lieutenant colonel of the Hawks working at Hawks HQ.
The report contains the names of senior Paul Roux police officers involved in the syndicate, photos of the cars of stock thieves and their registration numbers and names of people with insider knowledge of corruption at Paul Roux police and their collusion with the stock theft syndicate.
However this report has been gathering dust somewhere in a Hawks office in Pretoria.
Read: Stock theft syndicate in bed with Paul Roux police killed Brendin, Hawks knew
Information supplied by Oorgrens veiligheid
