adminKhulisani Nyathi (27), of Number 110 Beresford Close, Killarney and Christopher Mpofu (37), of Village Two, Pyramids, Inyathi, pleaded guilty to contravening the Parks and Wildlife Act and contravening a Section of the Firearms Act.
Bulawayo provincial magistrate Mrs Thobekile Mkhosana-Matibe on Wednesday fined them $100 (or three months in prison) for each of the crimes.
In addition, the court ordered them to pay compensation to the complainant.
Mr Jeremiah Mutsindikwa, for the State, told the court that Mpofu is employed at Plot Number Two, Fungulume, Dromoland in Inyathi as a farm worker.
On 13 January, Nyathi and Mpofu went to Dromoland resettlement area armed with a .303 rifle.
They shot and killed a zebra, skinned the animal and loaded the meat into Nyathi’s vehicle. Nyathi left the resettlement area at night heading for Bulawayo leaving Mpofu with the rifle at the farm.
The following day, at about 4 am, police officers who were manning a roadblock along the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road received information that Nyathi was carrying a zebra carcass heading for Bulawayo.
An hour later, Nyathi arrived at the police roadblock and on realising that he was being stopped, he changed his route and turned towards Woodville suburb.
Police made a follow up to his residence where they recovered the carcass and the zebra skin. After his arrest, Nyathi implicated Mpofu leading to the recovery of the rifle and four rounds of live ammunition.
The court heard that on 11 January, this year, Nyathi, who is not a holder of a firearms certificate, got a .303 from Makhosini Tshuma who is a holder of a firearm certificate.
Nyathi later took it to Mpofu and they used it to illegally hunt a zebra.
Online Reporter