Three suspected goat thieves arrested at Shigalo

Do not be fooled: the goats you see at the Malamulele police station are not under arrest, but their "owners" are.

With stock theft rife in the Mopani and Vhembe areas, police in Malamulele might have smashed one of the stock-theft syndicates operating in the area when they arrested three men. The men were found at Shigalo village with a bakkie- and trailer-load full of goats.

The 50 goats are suspected to have been stolen by the gang, which is believed to be operating in the area. According to Malamulele police spokesperson W/O Alison Mapindani, the police were on routine sector patrols in the area last Monday evening when they came across the suspected vehicle and trailer carrying the goats.

"On enquiring as to where they had bought the goats, the three men, all from Kwazulu-Natal, could not provide the necessary documentation to prove if and where they had purchased the goats," said Mapindani.

He said they told police that they had bought goats in the area to sell back home in KZN. "We arrested them as they had contravened the law by transporting animals in the evening and we are still investigating the circumstances that led them to have so many goats. We are appealing to community members who might have lost stock in recent times to come to the police station and identify their livestock,'" he said.

The goats have no identification tags, which will make it very difficult for the owners to identify them.

During the Limpopo Mirror's visit to the police station, the goats were still loaded in the bakkie and trailer and were visibly hungry. The police said they were just waiting for stock theft members to arrive and to take the animals to the pound, where they would be fed.

"We arrested three men, aged 31, 37 and 49 respectively, on suspicion of stock theft. Investigations are continuing but we still urge our communities to come and view the animals at the police station," said Mapindani.

Recently, more than 500 stock farmers from Mopani and Vhembe marched to the Giyani Magistrate’s Court to present a memorandum demanding that the magistrate set an example in the case in which four men are charged with two counts of stock theft. The case was postponed to September 19 and 20 for trial.

The farmers, who came from Sekgosese, Malamulele, Giyani and Hlanganani, marched 500 metres from Kulunghisa Garage in Giyani to the magistrate’s office. They were brandishing skulls and horns of cows which were found in the bushes after the livestock were slaughtered by stock thieves.

News - Date: 21 September 2012

Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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