The Sunday News
Mashudu Netsianda in Beitbridge
A BEITBRIDGE cop allegedly teamed up with two cattle rustlers and cooked a fictitious clearance permit to facilitate the movement of 27 stolen cattle worth R244 000. The cattle were stolen from a farm in South Africa.
Patrick Gwese who is stationed at Nhwali Police Base, Leonard Mangavha (40) and Onias Ndou both of Swereki Village in Beitbridge appeared before Beitbridge resident magistrate Ms Gloria Takundwa facing stocktheft charges. They were remanded out of custody to 28 October for trial on $500 bail each.
They were ordered to reside at their given addresses and to report once a week at Beitbridge Police Station as part of the bail conditions. The prosecutor, Mr Johannes Tlou said on 3 August this year at midnight, Ndou and Mangavha illegally crossed the Limpopo River into South Africa. They proceeded to Kongo Farm outside Musina where they allegedly stole 27 cattle and drove them to their feedlots at Mangavha Village.
The complainant discovered that his cattle were missing the following day and he reported the matter to police in Musina.
The court heard that on 4 August, Ndou and Mangavha went to Nhwali cattle sale pens where there was a cattle sale which was being conducted by the Gwanda Rural District Council.
Ndou brought 14 cattle which had been cleared by one Constable Taru under ZRP serial number 1970038. According to the documents the cattle were destined for Cold Storage Company (CSC) abattoir in Bulawayo for slaughter. Ndou was issued with a permit allowing him to move the animals to Bulawayo.
“On the same day, Mangavha brought 10 cattle to the same cattle pens and they were cleared by the same police officer under serial number 1970039 and they were also destined for CSC abattoir in Bulawayo for slaughter,” said Mr Tlou.
The accused persons enlisted the services of people to drive the 24 cattle from Nhwali to their feedlots in Swereki.
On 6 August, Ndou and Mangavha loaded 22 of the stolen cattle into a hired truck and transported them to Bulawayo.
On arrival at CSC, the management noted that the description of the animals delivered at the abattoir did not match with what was written on the ZRP forms. They were sent back to rectify the anomaly. The court heard that the two accused persons returned the documents to Nhwali Police Base where they sought the assistance of Constable Gwete.
On 11 August, they returned to Bulawayo armed with the new fake clearance forms. They were arrested upon arrival and taken to Donnington Police Station. Police in Beitbridge were informed and they teamed up with their South African counterparts and went to the CSC abattoir to identify the cattle. Mangavha and Ndou failed to account for the 15 of the 27 stolen cattle which were recovered.
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