Meat from the boot Mahalapye's new crime

Koketso Kgoboge | Friday July 20, 2018 14:45

He said they have recorded about 15 arrests of similar cases in the past two months alone. He said perpetrators are males aged between 18 and 35 years.

Mamadi said this trend follows after law enforcers tightened their grip, drastically reducing the number of petty snatch and grabs, pickpocketing and drug peddling crimes that were common in the village particularly around the town centre.

He said the frequency of this new trend in crime is similar to the days petty thieving and drug peddling were a problem in the village.  He warned that meat peddling could endanger the lives of the consumers, as the meat is usually not tested for consumption.

“We can’t verify that the perpetrators are the same criminals that used to terrorise the village with petty thieving, but it’s a common cause that criminals will always try other means of crime to make easy money,” he said. “We have cases of stock theft where some cattle disappeared after vaccination and this is the sort of the thing that could endanger the lives of consumers.

This should be a warning to the members of the public who buy this meat.” Officer Commanding, Superintendent Modisaotsile Bonang also confirmed that stock theft has grown in the area.

He said they have since established a district stock theft. Bonang said while in one of their patrols in the bushes recently, they arrested a 32-year-old man with Kudu biltong. “Stock theft has always been a concern, but recently it is growing across the country.  

We have established a special team in our district called Toladisana and we are working around the clock to arrest this situation,” he said. Adding, “It is not only stock theft. We have realised poaching is also a problem. We have detained a man we arrested in possession of Kudu meat around the Seleka farms and he will appear before the Mahalapye Magistrate (Court) this week.” Meanwhile, Bonang said residents of Mahalapye and the surrounding villages had a peaceful President’s Day Holidays with only a few recorded accidents and cases of crime lodged.