By Mosidi Mokaeya
Zebras and Township Rollers midfielder Ofentse ‘Size 10’ Nato will appear before the Mogobane Customary court on Tuesday to face charges of stock theft.
Nato, along with an accomplice, believed to be his herd-boy, are facing one count of stock theft. The duo was allegedly apprehended by Nokia House traffic lights in Gaborone in the wee hours of Sunday morning in possession of two stolen goats.
The goats are alleged to belong to a certain Nkagi Mosime, who allegedly happens to be Nato’s neighbour. It is suspected the goats were taken from Mosime’s kraal on Sunday night.
Nato was allegedly arrested in a police operation at a road block in the city after the police were alerted of a suspicious stock theft crime.
The operation bore fruit as the Rollers midfielder, along with his herd-boy were caught transporting two live goats in a Honda Fit belonging to Nato’s sister.
The car is currently in the custody of Ramotswa Police pending investigations, was last registered in 2016.
The arrest of Nato places uncertainty over the midfielder’s illustrious career, which has seen him ply his trade in South Africa and India. Locally, Nato has tuned up for local giants Gaborone United and Rollers and is currently with the latter.
If found guilty, he will face a minimum of five years behind bars as per the stock theft act of Botswana.
According to section 3(1) of the stock theft act, “ Any person who steals stock or produce, or receives any stock or produce knowing or having reason to believe it to be a stolen stock or produce, shall be guilty of an offence and, notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law, shall be sentenced for a first offence to a term of imprisonment for not less than five years or more then 10 years without the option of a fine, and for a second or subsequent offence to a term of imprisonment for not less than seven years or more than 14 years without the option of a fine.”
Nato was last seen in action for Rollers when they faced off against his former employers GU in the Mascom Top 8 semi-finals.
Rollers lost the game in penalty shoot-out after throwing a 2 – 0 lead from the first leg of the encounter a fortnight earlier.
