The suspicious load on the farmer’s farm. (Photo: John Leonard/ Provided)
Maize theft is estimated to cost South African farmers more than R200 million per season, while this crime is increasingly taking on the characteristics of organized crime.
According to dr. Jane Buys, security risk analyst at Free State Agriculture (FSA), says producers are mainly targeted by two forms of corn crime.
“The first is where thieves are dropped off in fields. They pick maize heads with knives and pangas and pack them in 50 kg bags. Such a bag can hold as many as 200 heads, and several bags are filled at once,” says Buys.
She explains that this practice costs farmers as much as R234 million per season.
The second method involves more sophisticated fraud. “Trucks and tankers are targeted and large quantities of maize are stolen. It is then presented at silos as if it were the thieves’ own harvest.”
According to John Leonard, a director of Grain Handlers Pty Ltd, a company that manages grain handling and storage and applies strict control measures to monitor the origin and movement of grain, strict logistic processes are followed at the group’s silos.
“No load is simply received. We know in advance which loads are going to be unloaded, where they come from, and each load has a unique unloading number. The driver of the load’s details are also recorded,” says Leonard.
He emphasizes that no suspicious loads are accepted at these silos. “Only pre-arranged loads with the right documentation are handled.”
Leonard was recently himself a victim of this type of crime. He farms in the Koppies district in the Free State and was woken up by a loud bang in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday. He investigated and came across a tipper truck in his fields – a vehicle that can transport around 30 tons of grain – of which around 15 tons were already loaded.
Members of the community responded quickly, apprehended the driver who fled into the fields and handed him over to the police.
The case was filed at the Heuningspruit police station.
John Leonard, the farmer on whose farm the cargo was almost stolen. (Photo: Provided)
Buys says that the scale and organization of this crime cannot be equated with mere survival.
“During a meeting with VL last year, the police mentioned that poverty and hunger are a driving force, but when you send 30 people or trucks into a country to steal corn, it is by no means just hunger. It is organized crime.”
According to her, there is a clear supply and demand dynamic. “People come in large numbers and steal corn. Taxis and vans come to collect the bags along the road. It is well coordinated.”
The crime is seasonal and occurs mainly between March and July.
‘Food security is being stolen’
Buys says that combating corn theft is made more difficult because it is not continuously treated as organized crime.
“Many farmers are frustrated with the reporting processes. Recently, around 60 cases were reported, but only four ended up in court.”
According to her, producers are increasingly forced to vouch for safety themselves.
“It’s really sad that farmers themselves have to introduce security measures and appoint guards on fields. Farmers shouldn’t suffer from crime. You can’t just take someone else’s stuff – but it’s almost become normal.”
She warns that the impact of this crime goes far beyond individual losses.
“It is bad to think that people are actually stealing a country’s food security.”
She says municipalities must regulate and control the sale of maize on the street more strictly to help combat this crime. “If there is no place or market to sell the product or just receive it unregulated, it becomes more and more difficult to keep this illegal trade going,” she says.
She further says that it is reasonable to suspect that maize transported in vans and taxis was obtained illegally, as farmers sell their crops mainly in bulk to silos and not directly to individuals. “This means the police can regard such transport as suspicious and act accordingly,” she says.