A 29-year-old man was arrested for stealing cattle in Bethal today, 15 August 2022. This came as the effort doubled by Police officers of Bethal Stock Theft Unit to clamp down on stock thieves that are troubling farmers in the area.
The provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, said police conducted a disruptive operation between Bethal and Kriel (R545) when they stopped a white Toyota Hilux bakkie pulling a trailer loaded with cattle six cows.
The suspicious man alleged that he is the owner of the livestock, but his statement could not add up when asked to give a description of the brand marks.
“Police’s preliminary investigation on the system picked the rightful owner of the cattle who managed to positively describe the brand marks and further identified the stock as his.The cattle were handed back to the owner as he had already reported and registered a stock theft case with Leslie SAPS on Friday, 12 August this year,” he said.
He added that the suspect, Sinethemba Ntsibande was arrested and charged for being in possession of suspected stolen property (live stock), and appeared at the Leslie Magistrate’s Court facing the said charges on August 15,2022. He was released on R1 500 bail and the case was postponed to 05 October 2022 pending further investigation.
The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has been overwhelmed by the efforts made thus far in tackling stock theft. “We hope that the arrest will somehow encourage the public to keep on trusting police with information which will assist in their endeavour to win the battle against stocktheft” said the General.
