Report livestock theft

In recent times the National Livestock Prevention Forum (NSTPF) has been involved in many meetings all over the country and it is obvious that the statistics regarding the non-reporting of livestock is not over exaggerated.  
Statistics South Africa reported in 2011 that 36.3% of stock theft cases were not reported by the victims and in 2012, this number rose to 40.1% and in 2013 it increased drastically to 63%.
The non-reporting of stock theft cases by livestock owners can be attributed to various reasons according to Statistics South Africa. Firstly, 31.8% of livestock theft cases are not reported due to a lack of trust in the capability of the SAPS to recover the stolen stock and/or to prosecute the case successfully.
Secondly, 30.2% of livestock owners believe that it is not an important enough crime to report to the authorities. This refers to small numbers that are stolen (one or two sheep etc). Thirdly, 11.8% of the victims of livestock theft use other methods to resolve the crimes, such as to report it to local authorities or neighborhood watch. Fourthly, in 8.8% of the cases the SAPS were not available or reachable.
There is no region in the country that is not plagued by livestock theft although the number vary from region to region and province to province. It is important to remember that the number of livestock theft units, the number of staff, vehicles, equipment, etc. of the SAPS is determined by the number of cases in an area or region.  
What are the consequences for the livestock producer when deciding to report a case? At first, due to the under-staffing of the unit, there are not enough staff to attend to the matter when needed in the first place and secondly, there will not be enough vehicles to be able to attend to the crime scene. Therefore, instead of having a reaction time of an hour, the reaction time is 12 hours because there is a lack of staff and vehicles. The question to ask now is, who created this predicament, the livestock producer who decided not to report the crime or the community themselves? Yes, livestock producers are the victims of their own choices, by not reporting cases.
The NSTPF wishes to urge all livestock producers not to hesitate in reporting livestock theft cases. If a community can claim that all cases are reported and still they are dealt a bad hand, action can be taken, but not before then.