WILLOWMORE NEWS - A local man, Romano Jakobus (34), was sentenced to 15 years direct imprisonment for stock theft in the Willowmore Regional Court on 22 July.
In addition, he was also declared a habitual criminal in terms of Section 286 (1) and (2) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977.
According to Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli, police spokesperson for the Sarah Baartman District, Jakobus was arrested in January on a farm a few kilometres outside Willowmore after a lamb carcass was found stashed inside his backpack.
He acceded to a plea deal on Tuesday 15 July following overwhelming forensic evidence which positively linked him to a stock theft case. Bail was later denied, and he remained in custody until his sentencing.
Andrew Diedericks, chairperson of the Baviaans Land and Agrarian Reform Forum - an umbrella body representing small-scale farmers in Willowmore - welcomed the sentence, stating that small-scale farmers in the area have also been suffering greatly at the hands of livestock thieves, to such an extent that they are now compelled to guard their livestock.
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