A NEIGHBOURHOOD watch committee member from Nkulumane 12 in Bulawayo displayed bravery when he held on to the canopy of a moving vehicle carrying five carcasses of stolen cattle in a bid to apprehend the thieves.
Shepherd Ncube (38), a gardener at Greenvale in Bellevue, Bulawayo, was hit on the mouth with the back of an axe after demanding to see documents authorising the transportation of meat worth approximately US$2 250.
Shepherd’s bravery led to the arrest of Bhekilizwe Nyathi (43).
Speaking during a media briefing at Hillside Police Station yesterday, Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident saying Ncube confronted the suspects after noticing their vehicle parked suspiciously at his workplace.
“On August 26 at 11am, the informant, Shepherd Ncube, was at work when he noticed a blue Mazda pick-up van with a white canopy parked outside the yard at his workplace.
“He went closer to see why the car was parked so suspiciously. While talking to the driver, he noticed that the car’s loading box was full of cattle carcasses,” Ncube said.
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He said the accused offered Shepherd a bribe to buy his silence, but he refused, leading to the driver striking him with back of an axe before attempting to escape.
“Shepherd demanded to see documents which authorised transportation of meat. The other two accused in the car persuaded Ncube to accept a bribe so as not to raise alarm, but he refused,” the police spokesperson said.
“When Shepherd held the steering wheel of the car, the driver pulled an axe, and hit him once on the mouth with the back of the axe and he released the steering wheel.”
Shepherd jumped onto the loading box of the van while the accused drove away with the informant holding on to the canopy and shouting for assistance.
“The accused then made off in their vehicle, not knowing that our member of the neighbourhood watch committee from Nkulumane had jumped onto the loading box and as they were driving off, he was calling for help which made the public to give a chase and they followed the particular vehicle for some kilometres until it ran out of fuel,” Ncube said.
After attempting to run away, Nyathi of Nkayi, but residing in Nkulumane 12, was apprehended by residents, who took him to the police station.
It was then discovered that the five heads of cattle that were slaughtered had the brand mark ME1, meaning they were from Hope Fountain ward 1 village, leading to the location of the owner of the cattle.
Ncube hailed the bravery exhibited by neighbourhood watch committee members in Bulawayo.
“As you can see, behind me, are members of the Provincial Anti-Stock Theft Committee with whom we have been making vigorous campaigns to urge the public to come and fight this scourge,” Ncube said.
“Even though our farmer lost a lot, we are happy that Bulawayo is declaring war against stocktheft and we are telling the public that whatever they do in the periphery, this city will never be a market for stolen property.”