Livestock theft has been on the rise for years, and this has had devastating consequences for subsistence and commercial farmers, and the red meat economy generally.  Several cases, in the Eastern Cape, North West, Free State, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, suggest the involvement of organised crime syndicates. But now the big story is in the Eastern Cape, where the fatalities have left law enforcement and South African up in arms.

But is this a new occurrence? A livestock thief could be a neighbour, a local livestock speculator or even a livestock auctioneer. 

Nkosi Mwelo Nonkonyana - Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders and Contralesa provincial chair

GUEST - ZOOM:  Lenin Ndebele - News24's Africa desk editor