Members of the South African National Defence Force allegedly shot more than 100 stray cattle belonging to Zimbabwean villagers living along the Madimbo Corridor in the Chitulipasi area of Beitbridge, which is situated along the South African-Zimbabwe border, police have said.

The Zimbabwean police provincial commissioner for the Matabeleland South, Ronald Muderedzwa, told Mirror that the incident is believed to have occurred sometime last week and local police are now investigating the case.

"We have sent a team of our police officers to the area as part of our preliminary investigations into the case involving about 100 cattle, which were shot by South African soldiers," he said.

Muderedzwa said he would soon meet his South African counterpart, Limpopo police provincial commissioner Calvin Sengani, to discuss the issue.

"We want to establish the exact motive behind this shooting incident and therefore I will soon be meeting my South African counterpart, Commissioner Sengani, to discuss the matter, which has certainly sparked an outcry in Zimbabwe. At the same time, we don’t want to jeopardise the good relations that exist between our two countries (South Africa and Zimbabwe) and therefore we are saying such incidents should not be allowed to occur in future" he said.

People from the Chitulipasi area normally let their cattle graze on the South African side of the border because of the good pastures, since the area is not inhabited. However, the area is also being used by the SANDF for their training programmes.

"I understand the cattle were shot by soldiers using a helicopter and right now the dead cattle are still lying in the bush. As police we also would like to urge our people not to let their cattle stray into the South African side of the border. It is however, unfortunate that the ordinary villagers lost such a large number of cattle as a result of the shooting incident," Muderedzwa said.

In the past, the SANDF would either drive the stray cattle back to the neighbouring country or alternatively allow villagers themselves to cross over the Limpopo River and take their animals.

Most people in the area depend on cattle ranching, which is a source of livelihood for them as well as a measure of wealth.

The incident comes barely a month after a meeting held between security officers, customs and immigration officials from the Zimbabwe and South Africa, which was held at the Matopos area in Zimbabwe, where it was discussed that security officers would share intelligence and conduct joint patrols and investigations along the border. Both South African and Zimbabwean police and soldiers started implementing the joint patrols along the Limpopo River last week

The two provinces of Limpopo and Matabeleland South in Zimbabwe signed a Memorandum of Understanding under the auspices of the Limpopo Trans-frontier Spatial Development Initiative, aimed at spearheading development and exploring business opportunities along the corridor.