admin Nhlalwenhle Ncube
IF it could be done any other way, a cattle rustler who has been sentenced to 54 years behind bars would spend the rest of those years without coming across beef.
A Cowdray Park beef seller who was in the habit of stealing cattle from Kloof Farma��s plot, Tichaona Kanyangwa Dube (29) was sold out by residents who tipped the police that he had become a regular supplier of the cheapest beef around.
He was then arrested but his accomplice Mthulisi Nzima is on the run.
Dube appeared before magistrate Tancy Dube facing six counts of theft.
He was setenced to nine years for each count, while 20 years of the sentence will be suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.
Ten years were suspended on condition that he restitutes the complainants with $4 100 before 30 October 2016 and restitutes another one with $2 500 before 31 December.
Afte his sentence, Dube simply asked for writing pads before being escorted to the holding cells.
Prosecutor Kenneth Shava told the court that Dube stole six cows from two plots with the assistance of his friend Mthulisi Nzima who is still at large.
It is said the two stole two cows from Kloof Farma��s plot Number 17 belonging to Leonard Ndlovu and four from plot Number 42 belonging to Moses Moyo.
In a period extending from April 2014 to January 2015 the duo stole cattle and slaughtered them at the peripheries of the plots.
When the owners went to search for their cattle, they reportedly found the remains in nearby bushes and made reports to the police.
Acting on a tip-off they had received from Cowdray Park residents, police managed to arrest Dube, but Nzimaa��s whereabouts continue to be a mystery.
Online Reporter