Sithembinkosi L Jiyane
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Cowdray Park,\u00a0 in Bulawayo, is facing mounting concerns over the increasing number of donkeys roaming freely in the area. Sithembinkosi L Jiyane Cowdray Park,\u00a0 in Bulawayo, is facing mounting concerns over the increasing number of donkeys roaming freely in the area.\u200e\u200e Once considered a rural issue, the presence of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-social-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8258,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8256\/revisions\/8258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\u200e Once considered a rural issue, the presence of these animals in an urban setting has now become a source of frustration for many residents.
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\u200eDonkeys are commonly used for transportation and hauling goods in rural areas.
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\u200eHowever, in Cowdray Park, their presence has disrupted daily life, posing health, safety, and environmental challenges.
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\u200eThe animals are often seen wandering along busy roads, grazing in open yards, and eating vegetables grown by residents who practice backyard farming.
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\u200eMany of these homes are not durawalled or fenced, making it easy for the donkeys to access the gardens and cause damage.
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\u200eThere have also been reports linking some donkey cart operators to illegal activities such as poaching pit sand and firewood. In some cases, residents have raised concerns about petty theft, especially during the night when people leave items outside their homes.
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\u200eNicholas Ngwenya Community Right Resource person revealed that they have continuously raised the issue of stray donkeys with local authorities, particularly council rangers, but their efforts have yielded no lasting results. According to them, the donkeys are briefly removed but return within minutes.
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\u200e\u201cWe have raised this issue in all stakeholder meetings with our duty bearers, the council rangers, to impound these donkeys. But after five minutes, they are back.”
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\u200eThe community has expressed frustration over the fact that some landlords, who do\u00a0 not live in the area are renting out their properties to people who own and keep donkeys in residential zones.
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\u200e\u201cIt\u2019s pitiful for us residents. Some landlords who don\u2019t even stay in Cowdray Park are renting their houses to donkey owners.”
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\u200eConcerns have also been raised about theft and insecurity linked to individuals using donkey carts (Scotch carts).
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\u200e One resident recently caught people attempting to steal her belongings left outside during the early hours of the morning.
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\u200e\u201cThree days ago, a resident told us she caught people trying to take her chair at around 3am. Luckily, she was awake and managed to stop them,\u201d said Ngwenya.
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\u200eIn response, Cowdray Park residents are now planning to escalate the issue by petitioning the local council with the help of Zimbabwe Human Rights Lawyers.
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\u200e\u201cResidents are now preparing a petition through Zimbabwe Human Rights Lawyers to get the council to take this seriously”.
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\u200eA shocking discovery was made in 2014 in Cowdray Park, when residents found fresh donkey parts in the suburb. The gruesome find sparked widespread outrage and suspicion that donkeys were being stolen and slaughtered for their meat.
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\u200e Residents were left wondering if they had unknowingly consumed donkey meat, sparking a mix of fear, anger, and disgust.
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\u200eThe incident highlighted the need for stricter regulations and monitoring of meat sales in urban areas.
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\u200e Residents were advised to purchase meat from reputable, licensed butcheries to avoid unknowingly consuming donkey meat.
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\u200eThe community demanded justice and an end to the horrific practice, calling for authorities to take action against those responsible.
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\u200eDespite the outrage and calls for action following the 2014 donkey meat scandal, stray donkeys continue to roam the streets of Cowdray Park, posing ongoing safety and security concerns for residents.
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\u200eAs the situation worsens, Cowdray Park residents are growing increasingly impatient with the lack of lasting solutions.
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\u200eThe community is calling for firm enforcement of urban animal control by-laws to restore order and protect their livelihoods.
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\u200eWith legal action on the horizon, residents hope the petition will finally prompt the authorities to act decisively and remove the donkeys from their neighbourhood once and for all.
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\u200eZimGBCNews | Global News On An African Perspective\u00a92025<\/strong>
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