MAMVUKA - Goat farming in the area has been seriously affected since it was discovered that young men are having sex with goats in Mamvuka Village in the Nzhelele area.

Several young men told a Mirror correspondent earlier this week that they were having sex with goats to avoid AIDS. One young man considers bestiality as safe sex, and said he and his friends were having sex with goats four times per week.

"We are afraid to have intercourse with girls, because every month we bury people who have died of HIV/Aids. AIDS is transmitted by having sex with a woman. Goats cannot get AIDS. Goats cannot transmit AIDS to us and that's why we are saying such a practice is safe", they said.

Mrs Sinah Musekwa, a goat farmer, said the goat market has collapsed due to the reports in the area. She is thinking of destroying all her goats because people are not buying meat or milk anymore.

A police spokesperson, Capt Ailwei Mushavhanamadi, told Mirror that he had not received reports of incidents of men having sex with goats. In the meantime, the national Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has appealed to the public to come forward with information that can lead to the arrest of the perpetrators. They said that bestiality is a crime that can lead to a jail sentence.

Thovhele Toni Mphephu said he was shocked by the practice and appealed to the community to help the police by providing information. He said he would never tolerate such a horrific practice in his area.

Four teenage boys who have been engaging in sexual acts with goats since last October say they never knew that what they were doing was wrong. The leader of the boys, all under the age of 12, revealed this to Mirror at their home in Mamvuka in Limpopo last Wednesday.

Members of the community saw the young boys on several occasions having sex with the goats at their school, Sikhwivhilu Secondary School. The boy said it was part of playing when they had sex with goats one by one. "We went to the school yard in the afternoon while no one was there. Three of us would be holding the goat while the other one would have sex. We never knew what we were doing was wrong," said the boy innocently.

The SGB member, David Ramulondi, who was referred to Chief Nthambeleni Musekwa, first brought the issue to the community meeting last year October. While expressing shock, Musekwa said he could not comment on the issue until they had had a community meeting on that day, Sunday, in his kraal.

Meanwhile, a senior community member, Takalani Mathivha, who is also a traditional leader said that it was normal practice in all African countries for teenagers between the ages of 9 and 12 to have sex with animals like goats, donkeys, dogs and chickens.

"Many boys did that in the olden days. I saw many of my friends having sex with goats, donkeys, cows and chickens. Many of them did so because they were told that a woman's vagina could kill them. So they started experimenting with animals."

After a mass meeting held at the chief's kraal last week Sunday, it was agreed that the youths would only be warned.