A 27-year-old Beit Bridge resident was sentenced to an effective nine years in jail on Friday for stealing six heads of cattle from another local villager.

Timothy Baloyi of Chiromwa village, outside Beit Bridge, pleaded not guilty to charges of stock theft but was convicted by a local magistrate, Mrs Auxilia Chiumburu.

The prosecutor, Mr Muchiwande Sithole, said that sometime in February last year, the complainant drove his six cattle to the grazing lands in the Tshabili area. The court heard that on the same day, Baloyi spotted the animals grazing and drove them to Chikombedzi village. The complainant later tried to track his cattle, but could not locate them.

On 7 April 2010, the complainant received a tip-off that his cattle had been spotted in Baloyi’s cattle pen. A report was made to the police, leading to the arrest of Baloyi and the subsequent recovery of the stolen cattle.