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Whinsley Masara Chronicle Reporter
AN 84-year-old Tsholotsho woman has been arrested for stock theft. Qina Mlalazi of Gariya Grazing Area allegedly obliterated existing brands on stray cattle and superimposed her own.

She was arrested on Wednesday when she used the same trick on a cow that strayed into her homestead.

Mlalazi said she took it for granted that no one would claim the beast as it had been in her kraal for a long time.

“I admit to changing the brand, although I wasn’t aware that I was stealing. The beast came on its own into my kraal. Can we really call that stealing?” she asked the arresting officer.

The officer Commanding Police in Lupane District, Chief Superintendent Johannes Govo, said a police officer patrolling the area for rustlers discovered the theft.

He said rustling was rife in Tsholotsho and Nyamandlovu.

“We have Tsholotsho and Nyamandlovu topping the charts in Matabeleland North in stock theft crimes. We’ve noted this is due to their proximity to their selling market in Bulawayo,” said Chief Supt Govo.

“As ZRP we encourage villagers to brand their beasts to make them easily identifiable when they go astray. We discourage simply putting a physical mark on livestock such as cutting off an ear as this is animal torture,” he said.

Chief Supt Govo said physical cutting done by villagers has become so popular it has resulted in people stealing from each other.

He said when livestock go astray villagers should report the matter to the police as soon as possible.

Chief Supt Govo said people who come across stray animals should also report to the police.

He said only rural district councils were empowered to auction stray livestock.

“If the owner doesn’t turn up in three months the police hands over the beasts to the District council who then auction them.

“When one decides to take the beast as their own then they’ve committed an offence.”

Chief Supt Govo said Matabeleland North and South are prone to stock theft due to the ignorance by people who don’t take branding seriously.