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Tinomuda Chakanyuka and Munyaradzi Musiiwa Sunday News Reporters
COMMUNAL farmers in Lower Gweru’s Makhulambila area in the Midlands province have in the past year lost more than 100 cattle to a poisonous plant called dichapetalum cymosum, commonly known as umkhawuzani in the area, Sunday News has learnt.The deaths are also being compounded by acute shortages of water and pastures caused by perennial dry spells experienced in the area.
Dichapetalum cymosum is a highly acidic plant that corrodes the inner part of the abdomen until the animal dies.
Villagers who spoke to Sunday News last week during a visit to the area said their animals were also succumbing to a mysterious disease where seemingly healthy animals suddenly collapse and die. Officials from the department of veterinary services confirmed the deaths but could not give exact figures of the total number of cattle that died last year in the area.
The villagers claim that an average of two beasts died each week and estimate that about 100 beasts succumbed to the dichapetalum cymosum plant, lack of pastures and water and a mysterious disease in 2014.
The poisonous plant, villagers said, was ever green throughout the year and is favoured by cattle particularly during the dry season when pastures are dry. Efforts by villagers to destroy the plant have been futile as the plant is found in abundance in the area, particularly in wards two and three.
A villager, Mrs Thandiwe Muromo, lost two cattle at the end of November which she suspects had eaten the deadly plant.
She also claimed that she had previously lost more cattle earlier in the year and previous year to what she suspects to be poisoning from the plant and a mysterious disease.
“I lost two cattle in November, one at the start of the month and the other one died towards the end of the month. I strongly suspect that the first one ate umkhawuzani. The second one just collapsed and died.
“There is shortage of water and pastures here and that has also contributed to the deaths. Most of the deaths are recorded around the dry season with the situation improving when the rain season commences.
“During the dry season cattle are attracted to umkhawuzani because it will be the only green plant. Once a cow eats it, it will be a matter of hours before it dies. During this time of the year it is rare to have cattle eating the plant because there will be enough green pastures,” she said.
Another villager, Mrs Sphiwe Dube Mahamba, who claims to have lost 12 cattle between 2013 and last year called on Government and other responsible authorities to sink boreholes to mitigate the water shortages in the area.
She also urged relevant authorities to visit their area to assess the situation and possibly come up with a way to deal with the umkhawuzani plant.
“I lost four cattle, between September and November due to the shortage of pastures and water. I feel there is need for Government to seriously look into the issue and come up with measures to lessen the impact. If we could have boreholes drilled in our area that could help the situation.
“We have tried to destroy the plant but failed and I think we now need expert help to destroy it,” she said.
Other villagers bemoaned the mysterious disease which they said officials from department of veterinary services have failed to explain for years.
“In 2013, I lost eight cattle due to this mysterious disease. We don’t even know what the disease is but all we know is that our cattle are dying. This problem has become so recurrent. Officials from the veterinary offices came and took samples for tests but have never come back to us with the results,” said Mr Joel Gumbo of Sikombingo area.
Midlands provincial veterinary officer Dr Thomas Sibanda confirmed that cattle were succumbing to a poisonous plant in Lower Gweru but dismissed claims by villagers that their cattle were also dying in large numbers due to a mysterious disease.
He said if there was an outbreak of any mysterious disease in the area, the department of veterinary services would have picked it and moved in.
“It’s common that cattle in the area have, since time immemorial been succumbing to umkhawuzani. That plant has been there in the area for a long time and it’s not a new problem. Villagers in those areas have been told on a number of occasions to uproot the plant and destroy it but they have not taken heed. Now they expect Government to come and do that for them; that is not possible.
“I also doubt that there is a mysterious disease in the area. If there was anything like that we would have picked it by now. Even other departments that we work with there would have notified us of the deaths that the villagers are claiming. Yes poverty deaths are rampant in the area but not at the rate the villagers claim,” he said.
Dr Sibanda said his department did not have accurate figures of cattle that died in the area as some cases were being concealed by villagers who would want to eat or sell the meat of their dead cattle. The Department of Veterinary Services does not allow people to eat meat from cattle that would have died from diseases and encourage villagers to either burn or bury carcasses of such animals.
Online Reporter