The Sunday News
Mhlupheki Dube
THIS week’s instalment is a follow up to last week’s article on stocktheft where we lamented the situation at Shanyaugwe, a community in Gwanda District, Matabeleland South province.
This community seems to be stealing people’s livestock with impunity which has made people to conclude the involvement of some rogue police officers in the stocktheft racket.
This community is so daring that it attacks anyone who dares to go into that area looking for his or her lost animals.
Many people have been severely attacked before while looking for their animals but no arrests have been reported regarding such incidents.
I received a number of feedback comments from readers of this column including some who claimed to be born and bred in that community and attested to the fact that thieving is trans-generational and that it so entrenched involving higher authorities to the extent that he was very sure nothing will happen to that community even after my very passionate plea for action!
My plea therefore, continues as we further analyse the situation at Shanyaugwe. One notices that the community is now stealing from far afield in neighbouring districts such as Matobo and perhaps Mangwe, probably because it is now impossible to steal from each other and nearer areas as these are now aware of their modus operandi.
So you could be frantically looking for your animals in areas within your district in Matobo and so on when your animals have been driven by thieves from Shanyaugwe. Also the thieving is so commercial and massive as indicated by the numbers that are mentioned in one of the videos of a victim of Shanyaugwe, the man who was thoroughly beaten for going into that community looking for his animals after receiving a tip-off from someone.
He mentions about four people who lost animals and one of them lost 28 beasts. These are not your small town thieves who will rustle one or two animals but will wipe the whole village clean when they visit your area for their raids.
My contribution this week is about closing the outlet. I have made contributions before pleading with authorities to use a market-based approach to controlling stocktheft.
Shanyaugwe thieves are not stealing people’s livestock so that they keep them for themselves, they are selling the stolen animals.
This means there is a very ready market that is willing to absorb these stolen animals. Let’s close that outlet. The first approach will be to make sure every butchery in town is selling meat from animals that were slaughtered at registered slaughter houses.
There is paperwork generated and given for every animal that is slaughtered in an abattoir, let the police demand for such paper work and if not produced, follow the meat to its source, it could lead them to a stolen animal.
Restaurants selling isitshwala with beef, must show evidence that the meat was bought from a butchery. I know that such scrutiny will only provide uncouth police officers with more avenues for rent seeking behaviour but one hopes that there are still good upright police officers.
The idea is let our law enforcement make it as difficult and near impossible to dispose off a stolen animal and thieves like those from Shanyaugwe will find no motive raid villages and districts for animals.
Also those responsible for drafting statutory instruments need to revise whatever fine is charged on an abattoir which slaughters animals with dubious clearance documents, and make the fines as deterrent as possible.
We simply need to ask the question “who is the market for stolen livestock?” and close that outlet. Otherwise we will always be crying as more and more animals are stolen and absorbed by an insatiable black market.
Again I appeal to the law enforcement officers to take action and stop the Shanyaugwe cancer from spreading from this rogue community to other decent and hard working communities.
Our police simply need to do something and track thieves as those of Shanyaugwe!
Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo.
Mhlupheki Dube is a livestock specialist and farmer. He writes in his personal capacity. Feedback [email protected]/ cell 0772851275.
