State media in Zimbabwe on Tuesday accused veterinary authorities in South Africa of racism after 100 cattle belonging to villagers living on the border between the two countries were allegedly shot dead by South African soldiers.
The official Herald newspaper said the incident, which Zimbabwean police describe as cruel and deliberate, occurred earlier this month.
In a front-page story, the paper claimed the cattle, which belonged to villagers in the Chitulipasi area of Beitbridge, were shot dead by white South African National Defence Forces soldiers.
A helicopter gunship was used to drive the cattle before opening fire, said the newspaper.
The Herald — which closely reflects the thinking of President Robert Mugabe’s government — failed to say why the cattle had been shot. But it hinted that tests were being carried out on the cattle for suspected foot-and-mouth disease.
Outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease are a perennial problem in crisis-hit Zimbabwe. Four years ago Botswana began erecting an electric border fence, officially to keep out foot-and-mouth infected cattle from Zimbabwe.
But the project, which has since been abandoned, provoked a storm inside Zimbabwe, with suspicions Botswana was also trying to keep desperate Zimbabweans out of the country.
The Herald insisted the Chitulipasi cattle killings were racist.
”We have established that the provincial veterinary officer, a Dr Luke, who happens to be white, working with his counterparts in the army, who are white, shot the cattle,” said police spokesperson Ronald Muderedzwa.
There were, however, hints that the cattle may have in fact been grazing on South African soil.
People from the Chitulipasi area, most of whom have relatives on the South African side of the border, usually let their cattle graze on that side where there are good pastures, said the Herald.
The South African authorities were said to be investigating the incident. — Sapa-dpa