Cattle ‘thief’ relieved of bakkie

NOT only was a North West herder dispossessed of four cattle he allegedly stole from his employer, but his “long fingers” will also cost him the Toyota Hilux bakkie he used to transport the animals.

The National Director of Public Prosecutions last year obtained a preservation order in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, to ensure that the vehicle remained in the State’s hands until further notice.

And last week, it obtained a further order declaring the vehicle forfeited to the State as it was used during the commission of the alleged crime. The Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, S’khumbuzo Maphumulo, said in papers before the court there were reasonable grounds to believe the vehicle was instrumental in committing the crime of theft or possession of stolen livestock.

According to the police, they received information on August 1 last year regarding the sale of stolen cattle at Schweizer Reneke Auctioneers.

When they got to the auction, they bumped into Christopher Moshe, a cattle herder on a nearby farm. He was in the process of selling four cattle which did not belong to him.

When he was confronted by the police, he explained that he was hired by Thabang Notwane to transport the cattle to the auction.

The police said Notwane was not at the auction, yet Moshe sold the cattle. He was arrested when he could not explain why he sold the cattle if he was simply hired to transport the animals to the auction.

Phenyo Maje, meanwhile, said he was sent by his father to the auction to search for their missing cattle. They suspected that the culprit was their cattle herder, Moshe, and when they saw him at the auction, they confronted him.

By that time Moshe had already sold the cattle.