Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
A LUPANE cattle buyer who habitually stole villagers’ cattle and sold them to butcheries in Bulawayo has been sentenced to 27 years in jail for stocktheft.
Baron Siaka Masuku (36) of Gandangula Village was a well-known cattle buyer in St Luke’s area in Lupane.
He stole four beasts belonging to three villagers in separate incidents in September last year and cleared them with police as his, and was given permits to transport them to Bulawayo.
Masuku would drive the cattle from the grazing lands and sell them to Bulawayo Abattoir trading as Dunsgal Feedlot.
The crime came to light when one of the complainants, Mr Mandla Ncube of Lihlo 2 Village, reported a case of missing cattle after his ox and bull went missing.
An alert police officer in St Luke’s told him that cattle matching the description had been cleared for Masuku.
Masuku was arrested after investigations led to recovery of three of the stolen cattle and he offered to compensate the complainants.
He pleaded not guilty to three counts of stocktheft when he appeared before Lupane Resident magistrate Mr Ndumo Masuku.
The magistrate said the court noted that while Masuku had compensated the complainants with six beasts, the process was also unlawfully done.
He said stocktheft is a serious offence that attracts a mandatory sentence of nine years for each stolen beast and there were no special circumstances warranting a lesser sentence for Masuku.
“In the absence of special circumstances the court is left with no choice but not go below the belt. The court feels that a mandatory sentence will suffice in making the accused realise the blameworthiness of his conduct. An aggregate of 27 years will meet the justice of this case,” said the magistrate.
Masuku who was represented by Mr Arkisayi James Dhliwayo of T Hara and Partners, had been in custody for six months since his arrest last year.
Prosecuting Mr Clive Gumbo said the complainants released their herd of cattle for grazing and discovered that some were missing when they rounded them up in the evening.
Mr Ncube’s two beasts were stolen on 22 September last year in the bush where he had left them to graze.
The court heard that Mr Ncube looked for his ox and bull for two days and after failing to locate them, he reported the matter to police.
While at the police station he was told that two beasts matching the same description had been cleared by police for Masuku who had been given a permit to transport them to an abattoir in Bulawayo.
Investigations showed that the two beasts were sold to Bulawayo Abattoir trading as Dunsgal Feedlot.
Masuku admitted that he had stolen the beasts and three days later gave Mr Ncube three cows after also clearing them with police.
Of the two that were stolen, the bull was not recovered while the ox was recovered from the abattoir.
Masuku stole an ox each from the second and third complainants Mr Clement Mhlanga and Mrs Jane Nkomazana and the cattle were recovered in Bulawayo.
Masuku compensated both with some heifers. — @ncubeleon
Online Reporter