Free State farmers are spending half a million rand on security because border protection is a disaster and the situation is worse since the start of the food crisis in Lesotho.
Farmers call for government protection as food demand soars.
Lesotho Prime Minister Sam Matekane has declared a national food security disaster, saying the situation could last for more than six months.
Basotho nationals robbed nearby farm
Ficksburg farmer Friedl von Maltitz said his farm had not yet been hit by famine, although Basotho nationals were believed to have stolen from a neighbouring farm.
He said that in the Ficksburg area alone, farmers were spending more than half a million rand on high-tech cameras, surveillance systems and security guards.
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“The cameras help to spot suspicious movements or vehicles. The police also use them to track vehicles because the technology can recognize license plates.”
Von Maltitz owns cattle, other livestock and crops.
Thieves move to a nearby town with less security
He said that while the cameras have helped to some extent, “crime does not stop because thieves simply move to the next town where security is less good.”
He added that crop theft was now more organised.
“They come at night and steal corn or harvested products from a 30-ton truck. Sometimes seeds, fertilizers, herbicides, because these things are expensive.”
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The border follows the Caledon River, which rises in the Drakensberg Mountains and flows into the Free State.
“In winter, the water dries up almost completely, so there is no physical limit.
“The fence has not been replaced in years and the government has said it has no money to replace it.”
“We have heard that Lesotho has had a bad harvest because of the same drought that we have, but if you add to that their unemployment rate, which is very high, I can understand that they are stealing to survive because they are desperate,” Von Maltitz said.
He fears that the humanitarian aid available to Lesotho will not be enough because of corruption.
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“In South Africa we export maize because we have a surplus, but our concern is always whether this maize reaches the people there.”
Most common crimes committed by Basotho nationals
A research study by the Free State Department of Agriculture published this month found that the most common crimes committed by Basotho nationals in the province’s towns include “cattle rustling, farm attacks such as robberies and murder”.
Nearly 500 attacks on farms have taken place in the past nine years.
“Fences are being cut constantly and continuously and arson attacks have been reported in the last week on farms in the Boesmanskop area.
“There have been several incidents where Basotho have come at night to set fire to farmers’ fields.”
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Dr Jane Buys, a security and risk analyst with the Free State Department of Agriculture, said Lesotho’s cattle grazing on communal land in South Africa were most likely to be in areas close to the border and mines.
“These activities help to earn money to buy food to send home, but have a major impact on emerging South African smallholder farmers trying to start farming on communal land, as well as general crime in the countryside, thereby hampering our own food security,” Buys said.
