Judgement was handed down to rustlers in Bethal and Standerton Regional Court
Three stock thieves go to jail.
Two successful judgements in unrelated cases and separate courts have shown the hard work and dedication done by the police, especially the Bethal Stock Theft Unit, in the clampdown of stock theft.
Sipho Masilela (39) and Mvelo Dlamini (33) were found guilty of theft of stock or produce in the Bethal Regional Court on August 24.
Masilela was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment while Dlamini was sentenced to six years. Both accused were deemed unfit to possess a firearm in terms of section 103 Act 60/2000 of the Firearms Control Act.
According to Sergeant Thomas Mogadime, spokesperson for Bethal Police, Masilela and Dlamini stole two Bonsmara cattle to the value of R40 000 from a grazing field on the Ongezien farm in Bethal between June 25 and June 26, 2019.
The cattle belonged to Francois Arnoldus van der Merwe. A case was opened and allocated to Detective Constable Sikhumbuzo Vilanculu for investigation.
“A tip-off was received of a man transporting slaughtered animals. He was stopped by police in Kriel. The investigating officer, accompanied by Detective Sergeant James Mthimunye, drove to Kriel Police Station where they were shown the vehicle with the stolen and slaughtered cattle and the suspects,” said Mogadime.
According to Mogadime, Van der Merwe positively identified the carcasses with the identification of brand marking. The suspects were arrested and the stolen goods were handed back to him.
“Both accused were then charged with theft of livestock and related matters in terms of common laws.
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“Further investigations revealed that Masilela had previous and pending cases on the same matter. His co-accused Dlamini, was a first-time offender,” said Mogadime.
• In the Standerton Regional Court, Vusi Petros Mahlangu (36) was found guilty on two counts of theft of stock or produce on August 22.
Mahlangu was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on count one and five years imprisonment on count two, whereby three years on count two will run concurrently with count one.
Furthermore, he was declared unfit to possess a firearm in terms of section 103 of the Firearms Act, Act 60/2000.
According to Mogadime, Mahlangu was arrested by the Bethal Stock Theft Unit following investigations on three separate cases of theft of livestock, that were reported and registered for investigation at Morgenzon police station.
“Thorough investigation on all the cases led the investigating officers Detective Sergeant Mandla Motaung and Detective Warrant Officer Elias Mkwanazi to the arrest of Mahlangu,” said Mogadime.
According to Mogadime, in the first incident that occurred at Uitkyk farm near Morgenzon, Mahlangu stole 14 cattle from a grazing field and sold them to Trio Auctions in Delmas.
The stolen cattle belonged to Wynand Johannes Pretorius.
In the second incident, Mahlangu stole two cattle from Malan Amos Mfusi of Morgenzon and the third incident was the theft of six cattle belonging to Johan Rautenbach of Uitkomst Farm in Morgenzon.
Out of all three incidents, only eight cattle were recovered.
