A total of seven suspected stock thieves are expected to appear in the Highflats Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, 23 November 2023 following their arrest on Tuesday, 21 November 2023.
Police were manning a vehicle checkpoint on the R612 road in Sawoti when they spotted a suspicious vehicle which was stopped. Upon searching the vehicle police recovered three carcasses of cattle.
Two suspects were duly arrested and further investigations led the investigating team to J Section in Umlazi where five more suspects were nabbed in possession of three more carcasses of cattle. The suspects were found in the act of washing vehicles which were believed to have been used in the commission of the stock theft.
The two suspects who were arrested in Sawoti have appeared in the local Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday for possession of suspected stolen cattle and were remanded in custody. Their case was postponed to 28 November 2023 and was transferred to Highflats Magistrate’s Court.
All five suspects, whose ages range between 24 and 34, have been charged with stock theft and have already been linked with cases in Msinsini and Highflats. The slaughtered cattle were positively identified by the owner who is a farmer at Highflats. The suspects are believed to be members of a syndicate which was terrorising stock owners in the Ugu and Harry Gwala districts.