Stray lions from Botswana descend on Beitbridge
Friday, 29 March 2013 00:00
Beitbridge Bureau
LIONS believed to have strayed from Northern Tuli Game Reserve in Botswana
have descended on Maramani area here where they are reportedly killing
livestock.
Maramani ward councillor, Clr Luka Ndou yesterday said Shashe and Limpopo
were the worst affected villages where 10 cattle have so far been killed by
the predators.
“A pride of lions from Botswana has strayed into Maramani area where it is
preying on our livestock and so far we have reports of 10 cattle having been
killed.
“This is an issue of grave concern particularly taking into account that
local villagers rely on cattle farming for a living.
“We are appealing to the relevant authorities to address this problem as a
matter of urgency,” he said.
Mr Morgan Muleya, one of the affected villagers, said: “The lions have
killed two beasts from my kraal while my neighbour lost two calves. What
continues to worry us as villagers is that relevant authorities were
notified but they are not doing anything to address the problem.”
Clr Ndou also expressed concern over hyenas, which are reportedly
terrorising villagers in the same area.
He said villagers were losing an average of 20 livestock per month to the
hyenas.
“The hyenas mainly target donkeys while grazing at night and every month we
get reports of about 20 animals, especially donkeys having been attacked by
hyenas,” said Clr Ndou.
Clr Ndou said efforts were being made to engage a local safari operator to
address the problem, which has affected the villagers since last year.
The village head for Maramani, Mr John Maramani said their records indicated
that so far more than 100 donkeys have been killed.
Maramani is situated at the confluence of the Limpopo and Tuli Rivers.
Meanwhile, a serious shortage of public transport has hit Maramani and
surrounding areas resulting in unscrupulous unregistered transport operators
capitalising on the situation by charging exorbitant fares.
Clr Ndou expressed concern and urged Government to chip in with assistance.
“We are facing a serious problem of transport to travel between Beitbridge
and Maramani ward and villagers are currently relying on one bus, which
plies the route once a week leaving them at the mercy of private
transporters who charge high fares,” he said.
A single journey to Beitbridge cost R150 using a private transport while
buses charge R80 for the same distance.
“We are appealing to Government to bring back Zupco buses, which used to ply
the route at affordable fares and again we are also urging other bus
companies to come on board as the fares charged by private vehicles are
beyond the reach of an average person,” said Clr Ndou.
Bus operators are shunning the Beitbridge-Maramani route citing bad roads.
Most of the roads and bridges linking the area with Beitbridge town were
damaged by floods resulting in them being inaccessible.
Several transporters have pulled out of the route.
Some of the bridges, which were destroyed more than 10 years ago by Cyclone
Eline-induced rains in 2000, have not yet been repaired.
Villagers in the area are also facing a problem of communication and the
locals rely on South African and Botswana mobile networks.
“We are appealing to local mobile network providers to install boosters in
our area to improve on communication.
“It’s a quite a big challenge to contact an ambulance from Beitbridge in the
event of disaster as we rely on foreign networks, which are quite expensive
and unreliable in terms of coverage,” said Clr Ndou.
Some villagers in Limpopo are forced to walk long distances in search of
medical attention at Shashe Clinic, situated about 20km away.
Maramani ward is situated 120km west of Beitbridge town and the area lies
along the country’s borders with Botswana and South Africa.
Due to its proximity to Greater Mapungubwe Trans-frontier Conservation Area,
a vast safari land jointly shared by Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa,
villagers have not been spared either by stray elephants which continue to
destroy their crops.
The jumbos have destroyed crops and canals at Bili and Jalukange irrigation
schemes.
At Shashe irrigation scheme, prior to the electrification of the fence, the
jumbos had pulled down the fence and destroyed the canals.
Clr Ndou urged the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to electrify Jalukange
and Bili irrigation schemes to deter elephants from straying into the
fields.
Many farmers have also lost massive crops due to the destruction by the
jumbos.