Villagers living along the Madimbo Corridor in the Chitulipasi area of Beitbridge, along the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe, are appealing to their government to negotiate with the South African government so that they can be compensated for their 100 cattle which were allegedly shot recently by members of the South African National Defence Force.

The animals were allegedly shot by the soldiers, who were training at their Madimbo Camp outside Musina, after the cattle had strayed to the South African side of the border.

The shooting incident, which occurred in June, prompted the police chiefs from Limpopo and Matabeleland South provinces to meet over the issue as it also sparked an outcry among the Zimbabwean villagers.

"Cattle are a source of livelihood for us villagers and therefore this is a great loss of wealth to us. We are saying the two governments of South Africa and Zimbabwe should sit down and find a way of compensating us and we also don’t want a recurrence of such incidents," said Nndwamato Nguluvhe, a villager.

He said he lost 17 cattle during the shooting incident and now he is left with only six cattle.

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

The police provincial commissioner for Matabeleland South, Ronald Muderedzwa, they were still jointly investigating the incident with the SAPS. "We are still investigating, but as police we also would like to urge our people not to let their cattle stray to the South African side of the border, as it is outside the territorial laws," he said.

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

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