Volume 65 December 2026-January 2026 : Feature

Small scale farming in Borolong is on a very serious brink of collapse following an organised spate of small stock theft that has hit the region and left small farmers empty handed.

The region, which shares the south most part of the country with South Africa is known for its strong family ties with the people of the Barolong region of South Africa and local authorities have attributed the hard to crack syndicates to the family bonds as the crimes committed appear very organised.

The policing area for the region spans across 15 villages with only two police offices in Ramatlabama and Good Hope. Small scale farmers in the area are crying foul and say the problem is escalating with little hope that the authorities will help. The invasion has hit the small community of Borolong which largely depends on small scale farming because of poor rains in this part of the country.

When the Kutlwano team arrived at the Ramatlabama Police Station detective assistant superintendent, Moses Temogo, was on the phone with the South African Police Service who had asked their Botswana counterparts to come and identify a herd of goats which had been found at Lichtenburg. Some were reportedly being ferried to Madutle in Lehurutshe for an identification parade.

Temogo, the Criminal Investigation Department officer-in-command for this region concures with people living in this community that there is rampant stock theft which has now become a serious problem in his policing area of Bethele, Dinatshana, Good Hope, Pitsane, Papatlo, Borobadilepe and Matasalalo, among other villages in the south.

Some businesses such as butcheries and even funeral parlours have also been found to be colluding with stock thieves. Temogo observes that the stock theft practice involves an organised modus operandi consisting of buyers and sellers would go to any lengths to get what they want. This is evident in the fact that the stolen animals become untraceable very soon after being reported missing.

A reputable farmer and also Kgosi at the Ramatlabama kgotla, Kgosi Mogoiwa Mosetlhi, says a host of factors chief among them lack of proper monitoring on the part of owners exacerbate stock theft cases hence late realisation that stock was missing. He also attributes the rise in reported cases to cross border offence, “ bogodu jwa leruo bo teng mme ga bo bontsi jaaka jwa dihutshane. Dihutshane ke tsone tse di tlhorontshitsweng.Ke nyeleletswe ke dipudi di le lesome le bosupa mme ke ne ka bona tse tharo hela mo go tsone. Mme ke a ne ke belaela gore le ba sepodisi ba na le boitseme ka gore e rile tsame ke tla di bona abo ke latetse yo mogolwane ko Lobatse”.

Stella Mahatane stays in Phitshane Molopo but her cattlepost is at Mmakgori just a few kilometres from Dikhukhung and Leporung villages. “Nnya nna ke tseetswe dinamanyane le dipudi badi tlhadisa bo mmaatso di santse di le di nnye di ise di bewe tshipi. Ga re itse gore mapodisi a palelwa ke eng go ba tshwarwa ka ke batho hela ba ba itsweng le masika a bone re a ba itse,” laments the distraught small scale farmer.

An attempt to establish the number of arrests and convictions made in the region was unsuccessful as the officer in charge of the Ramatlabama station was out of office. Nevertheless, government has put in place stiffer penalties for stock theft with perpetrators facing a maximum of ten years imprisonment. Ends

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