Online Reporter
Moreblessing Ncube
TWO trusted villagers turned cattle rustlers have been jailed after hatching a plot to steal and sell their employer’s prized beasts right under his nose.
The shocking betrayal played out in Village Locard where 22-year-old herd boy Khohlwani Mhlanga teamed up with his boss’s neighbour, 45-year-old Rodrick Ncube, to pull off a dodgy deal involving cattle worth US$850.
The duo appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Abednico Ndebele who was not amused by their crooked ways. Each man was slapped with five years behind bars, bringing their total sentence to 10 years.
The court heard how, on June 9 2025, Mhlanga and Ncube drove Askimos Muchuchuti’s cattle into Ncube’s kraal under the cover of rural quiet.
Then came the buyer.
To add a touch of false legitimacy to the shady sale, Ncube summoned yet another neighbour, Fanuel Nemapfuti, to witness the transaction. Using his own livestock stock card book, serial number 428, Ncube tricked the buyer into believing the animals were his.
With the sale sealed, the men helped load the stolen cow and steer into a white truck and waved it off as if nothing had happened.
The next day, Mhlanga, pretending to be a loyal worker, visited his employer in Bulawayo and casually announced he would be away for two days. But he never returned.
It was not until 14 June that the truth began to bubble to the surface. Muchuchuti noticed the cow and steer were missing. Alarm bells rang in his head.
He confronted Ncube, who had been watching the cattle during Mhlanga’s absence. But Ncube, cool as ice, feigned ignorance and assured him the animals were probably just grazing nearby. He urged Muchuchuti to keep searching the bush.
But the smell of betrayal was thick in the air.
Enter Mr Bhebhe, a neighbour who set the cat among the pigeons. He casually mentioned that Ncube had sold two cattle just days earlier.
With suspicion boiling, Muchuchuti found himself caught in a maddening loop of searching and calling. But Ncube stuck to his story, dodging responsibility with expert deflection.
The pressure finally cracked open the case when Fanuel Nemapfuti revealed what he had witnessed. On 9 June, while doing his chores, Ncube called him over to act as a witness to a strange cattle sale.
He watched as a white truck rolled up and the stolen beasts were loaded without hesitation, disappearing down the road along with Muchuchuti’s trust and livelihood.
By 23 June, the grim reality had settled in. The animals were gone, and nothing had been recovered. What looked like a simple absence turned out to be a planned betrayal carried out by those meant to guard the very things they stole.
Muchuchuti was stunned, heartbroken, and robbed of cattle worth US$850.
Mhlanga and Ncube will spend the next five years thinking about their betrayal behind bars, where cattle are replaced by cold concrete and remorse.
