Cruel Dundee stock thieves finally jailed
The two men were in custody at the time of sentencing for another case after being apprehended on charges of slaughtering three sheep on December 31 last year while out on bail for the first case.
Two stock thieves who brutally speared and butchered scores of cattle have been jailed for a total of four years.
Sizwe Ndaba and Simphiwe Ndaba were sentenced to three years for stock theft and one year for trespassing when they appeared in the Dundee Magistrate’s Court last Friday.
The two men were finally apprehended at Ashdene Farm, on the Wasbank road, on the night of July 29, 2022, after numerous cases of both dairy and beef cattle being speared and slaughtered on neighbouring farms through January to July 2022.
Peter Durham of Ashdene Farm told the Courier that 16 of his Jersey heifers had been speared on seven occasions, of which five were slaughtered, three later died or had to be euthanised, and eight were treated for their wounds.
Neighbouring farmer Clayton Tiley reported the butchering of three of his cattle, with two dying due to their wounds. Another neighbour, Stephen McKenzie, had two head of cattle slaughtered, while three died from their wounds and another two were treated for their injuries.
Durham said that ‘the cruelty in the manner that these animals suffered is indescribable, with one heifer having to be euthanised due to a sharpened fence dropper piercing completely through her abdomen’.
He added that prior to him and his immediate neighbours being affected by these ‘sick crimes’, nearby communal cattle owners had also suffered dearly due to similar crimes.
“The financial losses incurred by the farming community as a whole have been significant,” Durham said.
He thanked all those who were instrumental in the capture of these individuals, and the persistence of the state prosecutor and Stock Theft Unit in dealing with the case.
“Our thanks to the local communal cattle owners for their support in this case.”
Durham opined that it is important ‘that we all need to stand together if we are going to keep crime at bay’.
“Crime against one is a crime against us all because, in the end, business owners will also end up suffering due to less disposable income.”
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