Two men from Ntshaba Village outside Beit Bridge allegedly stole four donkeys belonging to a neighbour and went on to have sexual intercourse with them.

The accused, Falcon Moyo (20) and his nephew, Nkosilathi Moyo (18) appeared in court on Tuesday, facing charges of theft and bestiality. They appeared before a local magistrate, Mr Toindepi Zhou.

Both pleaded guilty to having sex with the donkeys, but denied ever stealing them. They said they simply drove the donkeys away from the homestead to the bush.

They were denied bail and the case was postponed to December 23 for trial.

The prosecutor, Miss Lerato Tshuma, told the court that on a day unknown to the court, sometime in November, the accused stole four donkeys from Ms Sikhathele Nkomo´s homestead in the neighbouring Mashaka Village. Ms Nkomo alerted other villagers about her missing donkeys and the local villagers tracked down the donkeys and found them at the accused´s home.

They found Nkosilathi at home and he implicated his uncle, Falcon, Miss Tshuma said.

The court was told that on November 17, the two men engaged in sexual acts with the four donkeys. They allegedly took turns to abuse the animals.

It was testified that a local villager, Ms Sizi Ncube, caught them in the act with their trousers down and one of the two was holding firmly onto the donkey´s back. She rebuked the two men and told them to stop. She then alerted other villagers and the matter was reported to the police, leading to the two men being arrested.

In his defence, Nkosilathi Moyo said his uncle (Falcon) had told him about the pleasures of having sexual intercourse with a donkey.

When asked, Falcon admitted this and said he had been committing the act for some time.