Zulu king's cattle stolen by rustlers

Not even the royal branding of Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini stopped cattle rustlers from breaking into his kraals in the middle of the night and stealing 21 cattle, including his prized Boran cattle.

The cattle were stolen on Wednesday from the king's three kraals at Dlomodlomo in Nongoma but 10 of them were later recovered in the Duvela area in KwaCeza, about 65km from Nongoma.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Thembeka Mbele said the stock theft unit was still searching for the rest of the missing cattle and no one had been arrested.

By Friday, the Zulu monarch had not yet been informed about the theft, according to the herder who looks after his cattle. The herder, who did not want to be identified, confirmed that the cattle were branded with the Zulu king's name.

He said the thieves got into the king's three kraals by breaking the fence.

King Zwelithini has a large herd of Nguni stud cattle and has been the recipient of many gifts including long-horned Ankole-Watusi cattle, given to him by President Cyril Ramaphosa in November.

EFF leader Julius Malema also gave the king four pregnant cows and a bull when he paid homage to him in Nongoma at his birthday celebration last year.

Three years go, King Zwelithini auctioned more than 100 Boran cattle and introduced the Boran breed to subsistence and communal farmers in the province as a way to improve the genes of indigenous cows.

It is not the first time the king's cattle have been stolen.

King Zwelithini complained during the opening of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Ulundi in 2002 that he had lost 800 head of cattle due to stock theft since 1982, and 7,000 head of cattle had been stolen at one royal breeding station since 1994.

"I don't know why Zulus have such love of meat that they are even prepared to consume their future.

"People are not even ashamed to buy stolen cattle bearing the royal brand mark," he said at the time.

Royal household spokesman Prince Thulani Zulu confirmed that the Zulu monarch had not yet been informed about the incident by Friday.

"As a farmer the king is leading by example and is always preaching the message that people can survive through cultivating the land and livestock."

"So what has happened goes against what he is preaching - that people should not live by stealing from other people but must work hard. What has happened is despicable," said Zulu.