Three accused cattle thieves were not happy when they were refused bail and filed an application for Joshua Nembaware, a Plumtree magistrate, to recuse himself.
Gilbert Ncube, 48, Sibangiswani Ncube, and 21-year-old Shelton Dube are accused of stocktheft after purportedly stealing eighteen heads of cattle.
The suspects have requested the magistrate’s recusal, claiming he is biased, through their attorney Nqobani Sithole.
Nembaware denied the application yesterday, stating that since the trial hasn’t begun, he cannot be prejudiced.
He went on to say that the petitioners had not provided strong justifications for his recusal. There is no chance of bias because the trial has not even begun.
The State, lead by Roben Mukura, claimed that the three came up with a scheme to kidnap cattle from grazing paddocks on January 28 at Lydead Farm.
The three individuals driving the cattle were apprehended by the police based on a tip.
At least 11, 313 stocktheft cases were reported to the police last year.
“Over the same time period, 1,150 people were arrested and 5,471 people were found guilty.
An anti-stocktheft operation was conducted by the police and the Directorate of Veterinary Services last year.
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