Alleged stock thieves are being beaten up by frustrated residents in Pietermaritzburg and forced to confess what livestock they have stolen. In addition, this is all being videoed and circulated on social media.
Pietermaritzburg police spokesperson, Sergeant Sifiso Gwala, said Taylors Halt and Impendle have been identified as the top two places in the uMgungundlovu District where stock theft is taking place.
He said both areas were more rural compared to Plessislaer and surrounding areas.
Gwala was speaking to Weekend Witness in the wake of circulating videos showing people being assaulted and forced to confess to stealing livestock, which included cattle, sheep, and goats.
He said the modus operandi used by the criminals is that they slaughter the cows in the bush and give the meat to their buyers. Sometimes they used abandoned houses to slaughter them.
Gwala said in most cases, the livestock get stolen from kraals at night. “Criminals use different vehicles for transportation.
They use vehicles with the wrong number plates or with no number plates at all.
It has also been established that when they commit these crimes, they already have a buyer; it is very unlikely that they sell to the butcheries.
Trending videos jeopardize police investigations
Commenting on the trending videos, he warned residents to stop making such videos because they jeopardise police investigations.
“When you are beating someone and forcing them to confess, that evidence will not stand up in court because you obtained that evidence unlawfully. This will jeopardize the case.”
Gwala also urged livestock owners to brand their livestock and become members of stock theft committees.
Plessislaer community policing forum chairperson Sifiso Mavundla said that while criminals steal a variety of different livestock, most of the cases involve the theft of cattle.
He said hotspot areas for these crimes are Willowfontein and Vulindlela.
Vuma Zondi, a resident of Vulindlela whose entire herd of 18 goats was stolen from his kraal, said it is still difficult to come to terms with the theft.
My goats have not been found. I sometimes think of buying more, but I ask myself how I will protect them from criminals.
Zondi said he feels helpless because he wants to perform a crucial ritual for his nine children, and each child needs a goat. “How am I going to get so many goats? If the criminals did not steal mine, I would have used them,” he said.
Another resident said she has been experiencing stock theft for years. She said about 20 cows have been stolen from her home, and the last incident happened last year.
We have been reporting this to the police, and they were following up on some information. We even went as far as Ncwadi, but we did not find anything. This is hurtful, especially to my mother
“She is 86 years old. In 2020, one person was arrested when he was trying to steal goats from our kraal. The goats started making noises, and that is how he was caught,” she said.
“In his car, we found statements from people who sell meat. We also found a book with orders for goats. We thought we were going to be called for the case in court, but we saw the person was released.”
The resident said she does not know if anyone has been arrested since then.
In other news – Police say drug overdose might have killed Pearl Shongwe
Late radio news reader Pearl Shongwe‘s cause of death has been suspected to be a drug overdose. A local publication reports that police officers found drugs in her bedroom when they did a cleanup at her home.
“We suspect drug overdose because we have found drugs in her bedroom when we were combing the house for possible leads to her death,” the police officer told the publication. They further stated that they are looking into surveillance cameras to determine who might have been the last person to be with Shongwe while she was alive. Learn More
