By Rex Mphisa
THE Municipality of Beitbridge (MoB) has taken pigs, goats and donkey owners to court for letting loose their animals roaming around the border town against standing Government urban regulations.
But in a surprising turn of events, in fear of inexplicable circumstances, perhaps witchcraft or rich influential individuals, both the Town Clerk Loud Ramakgapola and his deputy Sathulana Moyo would not disclose the names of the offendors whose animals put residents and travellers lives at huge health and traffic accidents risk.
“I cant say their names and will leave it to the Town Clerk (Ramakgapola). I am not going to mention these names of the owners of the animals,” Moyo passed the buck before stakeholders at Thursday’s Mid Term Budget Review Breakfast Meeting.
When his turn came Ramakgapola mentioned nicknames like Wasu, Chitova, Mdawini, Diva, and Bruno as the owners of the pigs that have even invaded the Beitbridge District Hospital.
“Some of these people are ‘prominent’ people,” Ramakgapola struggled.
Research shows most animals spread dangerous diseases like African swine fever, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and swine brucellosis.
These illnesses are transmitted through waste, contact with infected animals, or contaminated water and food, posing serious health risks to humans and other animals in urban set-ups.
Moyo who introduced the subject said the Municipality of Beitbridge (MoB)’s lawyer (Patrick Tererai) had already been instructed and legal action was on course.
“We opted a process to go through the courts although the law allows us to pound and auction after a month. This would involve feeding the animals during pound,” he said.
The other route is notifying offendors to remove their animals and giving them a deadline which in this case passed in May and June.
Court action was pending, said Moyo acknowledging residents complaints about the animals presence were genuine.