Minister faces arrest over stolen cattle

Minister faces arrest over stolen cattle

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By Lebo Nkatazo

A ZIMBABWEAN minister attempted to block a state-run newspaper from running a story revealing that 14 stolen cattle had been found on her farm, with their identity marks altered.

Sithembiso Nyoni, the Small and Medium Enterprises Minister, begged a reporter not to run the story, promising to thank the journalist "very much".

Breaking a long tradition of ignoring official corruption by top government officials, The Sunday News still ran the story on its front page under the headline Stolen Cattle Found in Minister's Farm.

The Sunday News is edited by Brezhnev Malaba, one of the youngest editors in Zimbabwe.

The Sunday News said when it confronted Nyoni to comment on the cattle found on her farm, she had replied: "Kulabantu abafuna ukungcolisa ibizo lami. Unganginceda ngokuyitshiya njalo indaba le ngizakubonga kakhulu. (There are people who want to tarnish my name, you can assist me by ignoring the matter. I will thank you very much).”

The revelations will add to Nyoni's woes after it took a constitutional amendment to guarantee her job. She was out of Parliament having lost her parliamentary seat, and President Robert Mugabe had not chosen her as a non-constituency MP. Under Zimbabwean law, a person can only occupy a ministerial position if he or she is a duly elected Member of Parliament or a Non-Constituent MP.

The Zimbabwe Newspapers Group, publishers of The Sunday News, is not known to reward editors who expose official corruption. In fact, editors have been fired for "tarnishing" the government, notably Geoffrey Nyarota who suffered after blowing the whistle in the famous Willowgate Scandal which trapped several government ministers.

The Sunday News did not say if Nyoni had been arrested, but bar political pressure, it is expected the police will soon quizz her about the beasts found on her farm.

A spokesman for Matabeleland South Police, Inspector Johnson Nyoni, said three of the minister's farm employees had been nabbed from her Fountain Farm in Shangani. They face stock-theft charges.

The Sunday News revealed that identification brands on the animals -- a permanent mark burned on the animal's skin -- had been tampered with and superimposed with a brand resembling that which is on Nyoni’s cattle.

Branding is aimed at assisting the Anti-Stock Theft Unit, a crack police wing that handles cases of stocktheft. All beasts must be cleared by the police unit before slaughter in abattoirs, a requirement that also applies to animals slaughtered in the countryside on family occasions.

Robert Bruce Moffat, who owns neighbouring Ormseon Farm, had positively identified the cattle as his, police said.

Police say Moffat has reported the loss of 50 head of cattle to suspected rustlers.
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