FOUR sheep thieves were handed hefty sentences in the Kokstad Regional Court last week.
Mzwandile Hlwili (39), Zwelakhe Nokwabuza (33), Mabhekela Nojaja (52) and Solethu Nokwabuza (24) were arrested after police pulled over their overloaded bakkie.
On inspection, police discovered the men were transporting 30 sheep, 24 of which were already dead due to suffocation. One of the men told the police that the sheep had been stolen from a farm in Cedarville.
All pleaded not guilty during the trial and in their defence, implicated each other.
However, during cross examination by regional court prosecutor Smangele Mdunjana, it became evident that the men had acted together and had planned to steal the sheep.
Hlwili was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment while Zwelakhe Nokwabuza and Nojaja were each sentenced to 10 years. Solethu Nokwabuza received a 12 yearsentence. Half of these sentences were suspended for a period of five years.
In aggravation of sentence, Prosecutor Mdunjana told the court that the 24 sheep that which had died translated to a loss of approximately R48 000 for their owner.
She also mentioned that the crime of stock theft was prevalent in the area and the fact that two of the accused had previous convictions for theft was an added aggravating factor.
