RUNDU: The case of 11 people accused of stealing 180 cattle from the Namibia Development Corporation (NDC)’s cattle ranch at Mangetti, has been postponed to 19 September this year for plea and trial.

The accused persons are Ihemba Haimbili, 53, who was employed as a cattle herder at the NDC farm; Johannes Kance, 31; Ncarasa Ncugora, 40; Kalihonda Mushongo, 28; Anima Kefas, 52; the 37-year-old Thomas Zoko, and Ihemba Nzamene, Bonifatius Nauyoma and Surumbu Singangu, whose ages are unknown.

Two other accused persons – Paulus Nghamwa, 36, and Thomas Mbambi, 35 – had absconded soon after their release on bail.

They were arrested on 19 November 2010 after they allegedly stole the cattle valued at over N.dollars 757 000 from the Mangetti cattle ranch, situated some 130 kilometres south of Rundu in the Kavango Region, between October 2009 to July 2010.

During their brief court appearance yesterday, Rundu Magistrate Victor Nyazo could not go ahead with the plea, and instead postponed the case to 19 September to enable the accused persons to engage legal representation.

The accused allegedly cut the veterinary cordon fence which belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, and drove the animals to Kefas’s farm.