Losing livestock to starvation is criminal

Mhlupheki Dube
WE are moving deep into the dry season and some districts are beginning to register livestock mortalities due to starvation and the effects of heat against a background of dwindling water sources.

What is sad though is the fact that drought is not a new phenomenon in Matabeleland provinces and other areas of the country but still farmers always act as if they have been caught unaware.

Perhaps it is time Government takes stringent measures on farmers who deliberately lose animals to drought when known drought mitigation measures are available and are shared with farmers by the extension workers now and again.

I think Government should introduce a legislation that will see a farmer who lets his/her animal die of starvation getting a fine or even a custodial sentence.

This may sound radical but people need to realise that livestock is not only a personal resource but a national resource as well.

This is why Government has a whole ministry and has infrastructure and human resources across the country to look after these animals because they have a stake in those animals as well.

Otherwise why would Government build and equip dip tanks as well as having extension workers up to ward level to look after those animals if they belonged to the farmer only and that farmer can just let them starve while he is roaming around villages happily drinking s’godokhaya (traditional brew)? Why can’t you sell a few animals and buy feed to save the rest?

In the long term though, I think local Government should assist in determining settlement patterns. The haphazard type of settlement which is found in most communities is not helping matters. This means homesteads are built everywhere leaving no places for grazing pastures. Is it not possible to rearrange the homesteads such that grazing lands are created?

I am sure if homesteads are properly organised the patches of land found in between homesteads can be aggregated into one big veld for community and hence improving the carrying capacity of the area. I know this is not easy but something needs to be done. This habit of people building everywhere including on grazing lands cannot be left unchecked.

Talking of the carrying capacity, the relevant department of Government, which I think is Agritex should consider educating farmers about carrying capacities of their areas and perhaps enforce the required stocking densities. The uncontrolled stocking densities also contribute to rapid depletion of the veld and subsequent livestock mortalities due to starvation.

Therefore while some of the livestock deaths can be attributed to drought it should be noted that if correct stocking densities are adopted and followed religiously some of the overgrazing problems can be alleviated.

On a separate note but still on livestock, I got thinking this other day after finding three dead animals by the roadside having been hit by a suspected haulage truck. I know I once wrote on this platform castigating farmers for vandalising highway fences and then letting their animals stray on to highways. I put the blame squarely on the farmers and overlooked the culpability of drivers.

I submit in this instalment that while animals are obviously not allowed on the highways drivers are also expected to exercise caution when operating a motor vehicle, like the police say. There are disturbing allegations that some haulage trucks deliberately hit these animals knowing very well that they are operating bigger vehicles and hence they may not incur any damages on their cars. I hope this is not true because if it is true then people need to be prosecuted under relevant Acts.
I argue that drivers have a duty to drive with due care and attention and this means avoiding unnecessary damage to property.

In fact failing to brake and subsequently running over someone’s animal means you were traveling at a high speed and if you were using an appropriate speed you could have stopped or at least avoided hitting the animal.

Drivers need to respect people’s livestock. While animals should not be on our roads, drivers should also not be killing people’s animals because of negligent driving which at times results in human life losses. Imagine somebody losing five animals at one go because of some cruel truck driver who just decided to run over them. That’s cruel.

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