The Sunday News
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
FEEDLOTS and abattoirs have been sucked in a stock theft ring with police in Bulawayo investigating a case of 20 stolen cattle that were recovered at a feedlot in Douglasdale on the outskirts of the city while 100 fraudulently documented goats were found at an abattoir.
The 20 cattle are suspected to have been stolen in Inyathi, Bubi District, Matabeleland North Province.
The plot with the feedlot is owned by Mr Richard Draege while the 100 goats suspected to have been brought from Binga District were recovered at Acacia Abattoir.
Initially, the suspected stolen cattle at the feedlot were 19 but when the police called farmers from Inyathi to come and identify them, another farmer positively identified the 20th beast which had a personal branding that was corresponding with the registration book he was carrying.
That further raised suspicion that the feedlot might have been receiving stolen cattle over a long period of time.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident and said their crack team had intensified investigations into stock theft cases while also raising awareness with farmers in the city’s peripheries to close down stock theft routes.
“We have so far identified 20 cattle at Douglasdale feedlot plot owned by Mr Richard Draege. These cattle were stolen from Inyathi area and were sold to this feedlot. As the police in Bulawayo Province, we have done campaigns all over Bulawayo’s peripheries. All our farmers have been engaged with a view to conscientise them to step up the fight against stock theft. We have agreed that there should be no route that should be left free to let in stolen stock into our greater Bulawayo.
“This has resulted in a number of arrests where a good number of cattle have been accounted for. It has also brought us to this feedlot where our active and very alert farmers, identified a truck which had broken down and alerted the police.
“Hillside Police Station swiftly reacted and interviewed the driver who led the police to this plot. This is where fraudulent clearance papers purporting to have been cleared in Nyamandlovu but with a ZRP stamp which was manipulated and indicating Mbembesi were found,” said Insp Ncube.
The farmers were invited and a number of them coming from Inyathi identified their cattle at the plot.
Insp Ncube said it was worrying that even if they conducted campaigns and engaged farmers all over Bulawayo and surrounding areas, they are now having a challenge particularly with feedlots.
“Our provincial anti-stock theft co-ordinator has engaged Mr Richard several times on how to receive stock. He has been engaged and lectured on what to look out for before receiving stock but now he received this stock with fraudulent papers.
“We are engaging him to see how he received this stolen stock. We would want all feedlot owners and butcheries to work hand-in-hand with the police and not receive stolen stock,” said Insp Ncube.
He said police in Bulawayo were carrying out investigations to verify the origins of 100 goats that were brought to Acacia Abattoir from Binga without police clearance.
“So far the information that we are having is that the person who brought the goats to this place was obtaining them from several villagers in Binga and no one bothered to go to the police to clear. So he brought them as if they are all from one person yet they seem to have been proceeds of barter trade,” said Insp Ncube.
He urged people who are getting stock through barter trade or whatever means to ensure that it is individually cleared by the police before being brought for slaughter in urban areas, saying people cannot be exchanging livestock like groceries. @nyeve14
