MOKHOTLONG – The police in Mokhotlong last week recovered 79 cattle that had been seized by villagers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
The recovery of the cattle followed a joint operation carried by Lesotho and South African police following the cattle raids three weeks ago.
Police spokesman Senior Inspector Moshe Raleting said the joint police operation took place between from Tuesday to Saturday last week.
“Lesotho and South African police embarked on the operation in Kwazulu-Natal and 79 cattle were recovered. They were found at a place called Indzanga,” said Raleting.
Raleting said the police had recovered 57 cattle at the chief’s place at Indzanga.
“The police found 22 cattle abandoned in the veld. Investigations are still underway to recover the remaining cattle,” said Raleting.
The villagers from KwaZulu-Natal raided villages in Mokhotlong and seized 155 cattle in what residents said could have been an act of revenge.
The South Africans were said to have been following the trail of their cattle that had been stolen a week earlier.
Most of the herd-boys fled the marauding South Africans.
Three herd boys were however not so lucky and kidnapped by the South Africans.
The herd boys have still not been found.
Raleting said it was impossible to open a case of kidnapping against the villagers because the herd boys could not identify their attackers.
“It is difficult to open a case of either stock theft or kidnapping because the herd-boys could not identify people who seized the animals.
“They could not as well identify their kidnappers,” said Raleting.
