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Court gives drought-stricken farmer a break

Fred Goeieman
The High Court in Windhoek has shown leniency to a communal farmer who removed cattle from his drought-stricken farm in the Kunene Region without a permit.

Henry Jacobus Mapanka had been fined N$50 000 for contravening the provisions of the Animal Health Act. He succeeded on appeal to have his fine reduced to N$5 000, which was wholly suspended.

Initially, Mapanka (63), after having lost 54 cattle to drought and having only 30 left, approached the authorities at Khorixas to obtain the required permit.

After three weeks the permit had not been issued and during that period 14 more cattle died of hunger and thirst.

He went ahead and removed the cattle despite not having a permit.

In his appeal, he told the High Court that the N$50 000 fine exceeded the jurisdiction of the magistrate's court.

Mapanka, a farmer with no other income besides his animals, also asserted that the sentence imposed was so unreasonable and inappropriate that no reasonable court would have imposed it.

The High Court in Windhoek upheld Mapanka's appeal against the N$50 000 fine and ordered him to pay a fine of N$5 000 or serve one year's imprisonment in default of payment.

The sentence was wholly suspended on condition that he is not convicted of a similar offence during the period of suspension.

Two judges of the High Court, Judge Christie Liebenberg and Judge Alfred Siboleka, ruled that Mapanka's personal circumstances, and the circumstances under which the offence was committed, justified a lenient approach towards the sentence.

Judge Liebenberg, who read the appeal verdict on behalf of the panel, said Mapanka had been found guilty of moving cattle from his farm without a permit. The crime has a penalty provision of N$100 000 or five years' imprisonment.

Mapanka had applied for a permit but when it was not forthcoming after three weeks, he loaded the cattle and removed them from his farm.

“This was amidst a serious drought where 14 animals died from hunger and thirst during the period he waited for the permit,” Liebenberg said.

FRED GOEIEMAN

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-29

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53%