�Donkey rustling� outbreak vexes Palapye farmers
Correspondent | Wednesday October 28, 2015 14:46
To this Asian community donkey meat is a delicacy. The tricky part of the business is that the village does not have recognised and legally registered donkey butcheries. To fill this void, some underground butcheries or donkey sellers appear to have emerged to respond to this newly found market.
While the flourishing donkey meat business provides a means of livelihood to the donkey rustlers, it has become a source of great concern to the smallholder farmers at Modoole masimo, some 15 kilometres south of Palapye.
Apart from the usual challenges of adverse climatic conditions, drought, shortage of water and tractors, theft of donkeys is now the most difficult challenge confronting the farmers at Modoole masimo.
Other neighbouring farms at Masuakoloi, Dikabeya, Phuduhudu, Lemone and many more are in the same predicament. The issue of rampant donkey rustling, which is now keeping the poor and helpless farmers on their toes, surfaced last week at a series of kgotla meetings addressed by the Member of Parliament for the area, Moiseraele Master Goya.
“I have been robbed of 11 donkeys without trace,” said Christopher Mpule, when relating his heartrending story to the area MP. Galennelwe Smith, another Modoole farmer, lamented his own situation.
“Ever since my four donkeys were stolen, I am facing a challenge of transport to ferry my disabled relative from one area to another,” he said.
Adding her voice, Goitsemang Bareki said crime was on the rise in the lands and while reports had been filed with police, this had been to no avail.
The rising theft of donkeys in the farming area comes at a time when the farmers were preparing for the new ploughing season. From the agricultural technical advisors’ office the seeds were said to be ready for collection and save for the rain, everything was in place to allow farming to start.
Just like other farmers around the country, few tractors service the area but instead of folding their arms and doing nothing, Modoole farmers have learnt to rely on their donkeys as a source of draught power. Now thanks to the rustlers, farmers are slowly being robbed of this draught power, just when they need it most. “What worries the farmers a lot is what appears to be a culture of impunity where culprits are nabbed and are subsequently left to go scotfree. Convictions are rare and almost non-existent,” said visibly concerned Bareki.
Farmers believe that somehow law enforcement agencies connive with thieves because of the alleged slow response when incidents are notified.
One villager who has witnessed this trend is Batlhalefi Tapiso, who said he had nabbed a burglar red-handed only for the culprit to slip through the fingers of justice.
“My house was broken into,” he said.
“I caught someone red-handed and called my next door neighbour to the scene to witness. I presented my case to the police to investigate and prosecute, but to my surprise the case was dismissed on account of insufficient evidence. What is the evidence that these people are looking for,” he asked.
The message from the kgotla meetings was that “enough is enough”. Villagers demanded justice and want the normalcy of their agrarian lives restored.
Responding to the farmers, Goya vowed to engage local authorities on how best the issue of donkey theft can be dealt with. He mooted the idea of designating the kgotla as a point of sale for donkeys in order to ensure transparency. A representative of the Palapye police, also assured farmers that despite limited resources at their disposal, law enforcement was doing everything to curb crime. “We recently made a breakthrough at Dikabeya by cracking a crime syndicate that was terrorising farmers in the area,” he said.
“Suspects, according to the laws of the country, cannot be kept in holding cells indefinitely.
“The release of suspects on bail should be seen as part of the legal process and should not be misconstrued as police conniving with the culprits.
“I’m pleading with farmers to have faith in the police service. We count on your continuing support.”
TSHWARELO HOSEA*
*Hosea is the private secretary to Assistant Minister Moiseraele Master Goya