Hausiku in cattle fight

DEPUTY Prime Minister Marco Hausiku is involved in a legal tussle after he castrated someone’s bull which roamed on his farm.

Both Hausiku and the woman who owns the bull have instituted civil charges against each other.Hausiko’s legal representative, Dirk Conradie, said they will lay a charge of defamation of character against a journalist and the editor of a local weekly newspaper as well as the woman who has accused him of stock theft.The newspaper last week reported that Hausiku was accused of stock theft by a parastatal cleaner who allegedly found one of her bulls dehorned, castrated and rebranded on his farm.According to the article, three other cattle belonging to the woman were allegedly also found on the farm.Yesterday, Conradie said his client denies the allegations of stock theft.He said 14 cattle not belonging to Hausiku were found on his farm, of which ten belonged to various people and the remaining four to the woman who has made the stock theft allegations.According to Conradie, Hausiku reported the lost animals to the local authorities and informed them that if anyone reported their cattle lost, they should go to his farm to see whether those found on the farm belonged to them.Ten of the cattle were returned to their owners, but according to Conradie the remaining four were not claimed. The animals were allegedly found on Hausiku’s farm towards the end of October last year, he informed the authorities of the situation in November, and the woman finally reclaimed her animals earlier this month.The article said Hausiku had dehorned, castrated and rebranded the woman’s bull. Conradie said although the Deputy PM has not denied castrating the bull and cutting off the tips of its horns, he denies rebranding the animal and totally dehorning it.He said Hausiku had informed local authorities that if the animals are not claimed, he would cut the tips of their horns to protect his own cattle, and castrate the bull.The woman allegedly reported the matter to the Rundu Police as well as the Ukwangali Traditional Authority, but neither took any action. Conradie confirmed that the woman instituted a civil claim against his client and demanded compensation for the bull.However, a dispute has arisen between the two parties as Hausiku did not agree with the value of the bull as claimed by the woman.Conradie said when the newspaper spoke to Hausiku about the matter, he told them his side of the story but they failed to publish what he told them.

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