Daily Sun (July 19 2013) - FOR weeks cops had been struggling to find out who was stealing cattle from farmers in the area. But then they investigated the chisa nyama down the road and solved the mystery.
THE STOLEN MEAT WAS BEING SOLD AS DELICIOUS IQADIDI AT R15 A PLATE. Ikamvelihle Police Station in Motherwell is a stone's throw away from Xoza's Place, which has become a hot spot for patrons looking for a good time and a good buy.
They only knew about the place when residents started to talk about the iqadidi, which is portions of intestines. On Wednesday afternoon cops went to Xoza's Place in Motherwell, between Indwe and Maku Streets, and found patrons inside the tavern enjoying the meat of fat pregnant cows.
A patron at Xoza's told Daily Sun they no longer bought meat at the butchery. "The meat here is always fresh and delicious - and cheaper than the butchery," he said. "Everyone in the kasi was crazy about the meat."
He said he never thought the meat was stolen because the chisa nyama was so close to the cops. Warrant Officer Thembi Gwe said: "I can't deny or confirm if cops were buying meat there. The tavern is about a kilometre from the police station and in the same street."
The cops arrested the owner and four men for allegedly buying suspected stolen stock. "Their arrest comes after we received several stock theft complaints in the Addo area," said Gwe.
"Two weeks ago we also received another complaint about 20 stolen cows in Addo." He said their investigations led them to a place where cows were being slaughtered at a crossroad between Motherwell and Addo.
"We recovered 10 cows while another 10 were already slaughtered," he said. "Another farmer complained about four lost cows. He came while we were busy concluding our three week investigation.
The cops recovered raw meat from the 10 stolen cows stored in a fridge in the tavern. Ten other cows were still alive. "Both farmers identified their cows from the remaining four cows in the herd," he said.
Farmer Colin Biggs, who was sobbing when he saw his cows, told Daily Sun: "I lost nine pregnant cows but I thank God because police managed to recover 10, at least. "It seems that these people knew that my cows were pregnant. These are ruthless thieves. They killed my pregnant cows with an axe," he said.
"The unborn calves were everywhere. It was a horrific scene." The damage is estimated at R110 000. The suspects are expected to appear in court soon for stock theft.
See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....
The Daily Sun is South Africa's largest daily newspaper with an average circulation of 330 000 and a readership of 5.7m (as per AMPS 2012ab). Its Facebook page can be accessed here. It can be followed on Twitter here. To find about advertising on the Daily Sun click here.
Issued through the Politicsweb iService
