The two men accused of stealing livestock belonging to small scale farmers will appear in court. The stolen cattle was recovered at a chicken farm in Zuurbekom, west of Johannesburg. Seven hundred cattle from different farmers were stolen on Thursday night and delivered to the chicken farm. It is alleged that the farm belongs to Gauteng Agriculture and was apparently leased to a man, who cannot be named as his son, who is the alleged culprit, hasn't appeared in court. A SAPS spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Sello said," Two people were indeed arrested yesterday after police followed up on a tip-off. Both suspects aged 35 and 80 years old are expected to appear before court on 20 September 2022 on charges of business robbery and possession of suspected stolen stock. Police investigation continues."

HE DIDN'T HEAR THE COWS

Speaking to Zimoja, the culprit's father claimed that he wasn't aware that there was livestock in his plot.                                                                                                               "I was made aware by a man who was parked outside my yard when I was driving out to deliver chickens to my daughter." He said he was shocked to discover that his chicken run was filled with cows.
When asked if he didn't hear the cattle from his house he said, "  had an operation in February and I'm on medication so I no I couldn't hear them."
"I honestly knew nothing about this and when I asked my son how he allowed about 700 cattle into the premises, he told me to F.... Off. From what I've gathered my son was working with a man that is the mastermind behind the theft." said the man.

NOT ON GOOD TERMS

He  said he's not in good terms with his son because he treats him badly. "My son owes me money and whenever I remind him he swears at me and tells me that he brings in most of the money, I know nothing about his dealings." A local Andile Mandlane from Kloof, Westonaria, said he got a call around 3am on Friday saying all his livestock was gone.
"I rushed there to find that the number of cattle was not what I know to be .Around 450 had been missing. We gathered money for petrol as farmers around and drove as far as Potchefstroom in the North West and parts of Free state but we couldn't find them," said Mandlane. He said on Sunday he called an officer from Westonaria who normally deals with stock theft but he had no leads. "Later that officer called and gave me a number of his colleague who apparently had leads. That officer told me that they had found our livestock and I called the other farmers. We got most of them but others were already driven to KZN, North West and just here in Randfontein."Mandlane said he has invested a lot of money in his livestock and he can barely sleep nor eat.

FORCED BACK TO POVERTY

Shumi Nhlapho from Snake Park said he lost his livestock on the 12 of September. He explained that his shepherd said he heard dogs barking but when he went out to check there was nothing. "The shepherd said he heard dogs barking until he dosed off around 1am and when he woke up the next morning all the cattle was gone. We then got a call from another farmer that the police had discovered live stock in Zuurbekom." He said he has sleepless nights and put his child through school with money from the cattle business but now they are forced back into poverty.

PEOPLE'S LIVES AT RISK

Jabulani Manyande said he lost his livestock on the 24th of July.
"My herdsman had taken the cows out for grazing at the mountains.he told me that he saw five men approach him but didn't pay much attention because he thought thay came to pray. When they got closer to him they pulled out guns and threatened to shoot him and one of them stabbed him," said Manyandeni. Manyandeni said he  lost 38 cows of which 20 of those cattle were pregnant and 14 were calves that his son just bought  for R750 000 .
"My worry is that no one cares about us ,I thought things would be better when black government took over but it seems we are on our own. People's lives are at risk and we can't sit and watch because the police are failing us. They should allow us to take the law into our hands. It's been months since my livestock went missing and there's no trace of them here, I suspect it was slaughtered here."

GOVERNMENT MUST INTERVENE

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Ward Councillor Mkhuseli Jokazi, who is also a farmer, said he feels frustrated because they've been trying to fight this syndicate with no lock.                                       "We are being failed by some departments from the provincial government. Premier Makhura had identified the West Rand as a part of the Western, corridor which is the region for agriculture so the expectation for us as farmers and leadership is that we should be prioritised," He said the government said it was in the process of identifying all the plots that were on lease so they can give them to people who can utilise them accordingly.
" I suspect that the man who stays here is lying that he got a lease from government.I think he came and illegally grabbed the plot." Jokazi said at this point they will have to allow that law to take its course.
"initially the farm was meant to breed chickens but now peoples stolen livestock were found here and this man claims he didn't know? He is lying," Jokazi said.