ANGRY: Garekwe Mabu
Family of shot suspected cattle thief demand answers
The family of a man who was shot dead while allegedly driving a herd of stolen cattle have denied that their son was a thief and have demanded that his killers be brought to justice.
The Mabu family in Molepolole are still trying to come to terms with the death of their son Pone Rangaka whose body was found in a thicket at Mogonono cattle post two weeks ago. Molepolole Police were this week clueless on who may have killed Rangaka, but Superintendent Andrew Bosilong said he suspected that the deceased may have been part of a cattle rustling syndicate that has been terrorising farmers in the area.
“The information we have is that the deceased, together with two other men were seen driving cattle in the river near Mogonono cattle post. Somebody saw them and informed the owner who came after the suspects armed with a rifle. He shot at them and when the bullet caught the deceased his companions fled without establishing who the shooter was,” he said.
This week family members were demanding answers as they frequented Molepolole police station complaining that the cops were not doing enough to get to the bottom of the matter. Rangaka’s aged father Garekwe Mabu , 90 denied that his son was a thief and suggested that he may have been killed for money.
“He left his job at the mines last year and I had given him some cattle and he added to those that he had bought and started his own cattle farming business. He was never involved in any criminal activity and he had no police record. Whoever killed him wanted his money because his wallet was never found.,” he said.
The deceased’s mother, Phalalo,79 also demanded that the case be investigated to establish the motive behind her son’s death. “What I know is that he was never a thief. I also know that nothing will bring my son back and all I want is to know the truth so that I can get some kind of closure on this whole matter,” she said.
Rangaka’s younger brother, Keabile, said the police had been notified before his brother was shot. “They should be able to trace the killer because they told us that they had received a call on the day that he was killed. They said someone called using a Mascom number and complaining that thieves were driving his cattle. They have promised that they will get a printout from Mascom as proof before interrogating the owner of the phone,” he said.
Supt. Bosilong said the case was a complex one and that it would be too difficult to conclude. “Even if we establish that the owner of the phone actually did call it would not be enough to convince any court that he is the one who made the call. The least we can do now is to get those that were with him to make confession statements that they were driving stolen cattle, but then again it will be impossible for them to identify the cattle.
No one has come forth to complain of any stolen cattle and this makes the case very difficult,” he said.
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The father is 90 and surely someone should put his mind to rest and tell him exactly what happened. The feeling i get is that he wants to know the truth before he passes on it was his son- remember he is 90 years old
If someone received a call surely they should have asked for a name of the person who was calling (?)
The feeling i get is that elderly people are not assisted as they should if they ask for assistance in a matter that is troubling them. This is the third article involving an elderly person, the first Article was a 72 year old homeless man inssisting to meet with a prominent person, followed bya 104 year old Granny who was just left homeless and abandoned by all and no one to date knows if she was assisted,. 1st October every year is a day reserved to raise awareness of elderly people. We will not stay young forever we have to go down this same route like these people.
When one is old you become “set in your ways”. You and i will become set in our ways when we come to this age.
We need to listen to them and find ways and means to assist them
The present (young people0 can learn from the past (the elderly)