Cattle rustlers wreak havoc in Matebeleland South

VILLAGERS in Matebeleland South province have raised concern over the increase in livestock theft in their area, and have blamed the police for failure to curb the vice.

The most affected areas are Matopos, Sikithi, Silobini, Gwanda, Mtshabezi and Brunerbegy, among others.

Several villagers who spoke to Southern Eye said police were failing to deal with the problem.

"We have lost so many cattle, donkeys and sometimes goats to thieves. We believe that those culprits stealing from us are either community members or are people from nearby areas," a villager Thandanani Zondo said.

"We have tried to talk to our traditional leaders so that we come up with a long-lasting solution that will assist us to stop this theft, but nothing has been done. We have reported these matters to police several times but police have not yet taken any action."

Another villager, who refused to be named, said: "We see a lot of roadblocks along Beitbridge road, but no one has been arrested for stealing our livestock. Trucks transporting cattle are moving around everyday, and we then wonder what the police are doing on the roads. We appeal to the government to help us before we take matters into our own hands. We cannot sit and watch people destroying us. We have made appeals for assistance to the Guyu police."

Matabeleland South acting police spokesperson Sergeant Thandolwenkosi Moyo said they were aware of stocktheft reports in the province.

"As police officers, we have received a lot of complaints from people around the province and we are still investigating those cases," she said.

"I want to assure people that many arrests have been made and we will continue with our investigations."

However, Moyo could not be drawn into giving the number of arrests made to date.