ELEVEN donkey thieves from Ntabazinduna in Matabeleland North have appeared in court charged with stealing 15 donkeys at a grazing area and illegally using them to ferry firewood in Bulawayo.
They appeared before Bulawayo provincial magistrate Busani Sibanda on Wednesday charged with stock theft.
They pleaded not guilty to the charge, and 10 of them were remanded in custody to August 10 for trial at the Mbembesi court.
One of the suspects, a 16-year-old, was remanded on the same date but into the custody of his parents.
Prosecutor Dorcas Maphosa told the court that sometime in October last year at Ntabazinduna, the accused persons stole 15 donkeys which belonged to Zibusiso Sobela, Ndumiso Bhehane, Nhlanhla Maduna, Milton Nkomo, Jimmy Mleya and Bongani Ncube at a grazing area in Ntabazinduna, Mbembesi.
On August 2, complainants received information that their stolen donkeys were sighted in the Pumula area in Bulawayo.
They made a police report which led to investigations and the subsequent arrest of the thieves.
— NewsDay
