NOTES

Published in Monograph No 113, June 2005

Stock Theft and Human Security
A Case Study of Lesotho

Dr J Dzimba and Matsolo Matooane
Edited by Jemima Njeri Kariri and Duxita Mistry

1. See report on micro-chipping project in Qacha’s Neck and Mokhotlong districts as part of livestock identification systems in prepared by Lesotho Justice Sector Development Programme written by Camelot (Pty) Ltd, June 2005. This report indicates that the two areas of Lesotho that have the highest rate of stock theft, namely Mokhotlong and Qacha’s Neck, were selected for a pilot study of the use of micro-chips as a means of identifying animals. The Stock Theft Act specifically provides for the use of micro-chips and the pilot study was intended to provide government with an opportunity to assess their value. A total of 4,000 animals in 20 villages were tagged in the early part of October 2004. Research instruments were used during the micro-chipping process to determine the views of the members of the public. The results were analysed during January and a full report was presented to the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Home Affairs in March 2005. While the problems of stock theft have continued elsewhere in the four months ending January 2005, it is interesting to note that only five micro-chipped animals have been stolen in the Qacha’s Neck District and none in Mokhotlong. The Lesotho Mounted Police Service has been provided with mobile scanners to identify animals that have been micro-chipped. The use of micro-chips should therefore be advanced as a means of preventing stock theft.
   
   

2. Human Development Report of the UN Development Programme, 1994.
   
   

3. J Dzimba & M Matooane, Workshop report on engaging civil society organisations in matters of peace and security in Lesotho, Maseru, 2004, p 6.
   
   

4. See appended tables 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
   
   

5. Bewys are documents issued by chiefs to transfer animals from one individual to another.
   
   

6. A pitso is a gathering of elders to discuss matters that concern the people.
   
   

7. Kingdom of Lesotho : Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 2004/2005 – 2006/2007, Government of Lesotho
   
   

8. Government of Lesotho, Pathway out of poverty: An action plan for Lesotho, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, 1996 (with support from the World Bank, USAID and the EU).
   
   

9. Ibid.
   
   

10. GNI per capita is a more accurate indicator of household income than GDP per capita, as it includes factor income from abroad.
    
    

11. Kingdom of Lesotho, Country economic memorandum, World Bank, June 2003.
    
    

12. Parliament of the Kingdom of Lesotho, Budget Speech to Parliament for the 2003/2004 fiscal year.
    
    

13. Ibid.
    
    

14. Ibid.
    
    

15. Bureau of Statistics, 2001 Lesotho Demographic Survey, Volume 1, Bureau of Statistics, Maseru, 2003.
    
    

16. Ibid.
    
    

17. J Gay and D Hall, Poverty in Lesotho : More than a mapping exercise, Sechaba Consultants, Maseru, 2000.
    
    

18. Costs were computed on the basis of all reported expenditure on inputs; benefits were the computed sum total value of the household’s harvest, excluding the crop residue.
    
    

19. Gay and Hall, op cit. National cereal production is around 27 kg per person, far below the FAO standard of 180 kg.
    
    

20. National Livestock Registration, Marking and Information Project – feasibility study, Government of Lesotho, Department of Livestock Services, November 1999, p 10.
    
    

21. Bureau of Statistics, Estimated livestock numbers and distribution 1998/99.
    
    

22. National Livestock Registration, Marking and Information Project, op cit, p 5.
    
    

23. Obtained from the Stock Theft Unit headquarters in Maseru, November 2004.
    
    

24. Gay and Hall, op cit, p 8.
    
    

25. By the year 2020, Lesotho shall be a stable democracy, a united and prosperous nation at peace with itself and its neighbours. It shall have a healthy and well-developed human resource base. Its economy will be strong, its environment well managed and its technology well established.
    
    

26. Kynoch et al, op cit.
    
    

27. National Livestock Development Study, Government of Lesotho, Department of Livestock Services, March 1999, p 2.
    
    

28. National Livestock Development Study, op cit, p 4.
    
    

29. Ibid.
    
    

30. Cross-border raiding and community conflict in the Lesotho-South African border zone, Migration Policy Series 21, p 11.
    
    

31. Kynoch et al, op cit, p 23.
    
    

32. Report of the Commission to Inquire into the Tsolo Violence and Related Matters (Kroon Report), October 1995, Section 111, p 5.
    
    

33. Kynoch et al, op cit, pp 20-21.
    
    

34. Ibid, p 23.
    
    

35. Ibid, p 24.
    
    

36. Kynoch et al, op cit.
    
    

37. Mafisa is a cultural system of lending animals to friends or relatives in kind for a long term with the intension of getting them back.
    
    

38. Kynoch et al, op cit, p 39.
    
    

39. Kynoch et al, op cit, p 14.
    
    

40. See appended tables 1, 2, 4 and 10.
    
    

41. Common theft, which traditionally was only a delict and often compensated with two cows as reparation plus two cows for the trouble caused to the court and the owner. This still appears to be the practice in stock theft crimes.
    
    

42. Anyone who is caught at night in a kraal and is attempting to steal could be killed: “a thief is a dog; they must pay with their head” (Laws of Lerotholi).
    
    

43. Kynoch et al found similar results in their study.
    
    

44. See note 2.