COMMENT: Let blitz on cattle rustlers continue

For years, Shanyaugwe area in Gwanda, Matabeleland South has been a haven for cattle rustlers who lived freely as if the area was exempt to the country’s laws.

It had over the years become a notorious no-go area for both law enforcement agents investigating crime and members of the public in search of their stolen livestock.

So daring were the cattle rustlers they would attack the police and for the ordinary person, visiting the area was a death wish.

The media was also not spared the wrath of the cattle rustlers.
Some time in 2010, a Sunday News crew visited Shanyaugwe to conduct an investigative story on cases of stock theft.

They were accosted by suspected cattle rustlers armed with axes who told them to make a U-turn and return to Bulawayo.

Stanford Chiwanga, our online news editor, then a Sunday News reporter, recalls vividly their encounter with the rustlers.

“They told us to return to Bulawayo and not enter Shanyaugwe and should we ignore their warning, we must be prepared to lose both our lives and the vehicle we were travelling in or we would walk back to Bulawayo after they had dispossessed us of the vehicle,” he recalls.

The place became an island of criminals who literally lived above the law.

Tales were told of how the cattle rustlers would slaughter villagers’ cattle and deliver the meat to some established butcheries in the area and outside who would then sell it to the public.

Unknowingly, members of the public would buy the meat for consumption without knowing that it was from stolen cattle and worse off, the beasts had not gone through the necessary vetting processes for diseases.

This brought another issue of the threat that the rustlers in collaboration with unscrupulous butcheries posed on the health of the people.

Shanyaugwe however, is not the only problematic area in Matabeleland South in terms of theft of livestock.

Other hot spots in the province include Halisupi, Kafusi, Rustlers Gorge and Nhwali in Gwanda while in Beitbridge problematic areas include Zezani and Siweregi.

It is against this background that the recent massive operation by the police in Matabeleland South targeting rustling hotspots should be commended and urged on.

Officer commanding Gwanda District Chief Superintendent Mandlenkosi Moyo said various arms of the police have been deployed to the areas suspected to be cattle rustling hotspots.

He said police were patrolling with the Dog section, Support Unit and Mounted Unit.

In WhatsApp audio to farmers in the district, Chief Supt Moyo called on farmers who may have fallen victim to the rustlers to come and identify some of the cattle that have been found.

“We have been on the ground with more than 100 police details since the weekend and have arrested some of the suspects. We have also managed to recover hundreds of suspected stolen cattle. The operation will continue until we bring the matter to a close,” he said.

Chief Supt Moyo said farmers will also be taken to grazing areas where some of the stolen cattle were being kept by the rustlers.

He said police will not rest until all the culprits are brought to book.

“We know some of you have been raising complaints on how police have handled the problem of stock theft cases.

“We will attend to your concerns as our public relations teams will be available as well. We want to solve this problem before we lose lives,” he said.

The operation is important in that its success will reassure the public that the police are on top of the situation in effectively dealing with the issue of cattle rustlers not only in Gwanda but in the entire province.

The communities are also urged to cooperate with the police in flushing out the criminals as habouring them will only mean the continuation of crime in their areas.

Livestock are a critical resource of significant benefit to communities in the form of food, income, nutrients, employment, insurance, traction, clothing and other things and allowing cattle rustlers to continue unchecked would mean allowing them to disturb the communities’ survival.

Let this operation be the beginning of serious interventions by the police towards eradicating cattle rustling in Matabeleland South and other parts of the country.