WATCH | 'I stole for a living': Inside the life of a reformed livestock thief

Sente Abel Mahini spent a decade of his life stealing cattle to make ends meet.

Mahini said poverty drove him to resort to his criminal decisions.

Police suspect Free State farm manager Brendin Horner encountered stock thieves, and that this led to his recent murder.  

Mahini, a 59-year-old former farmworker, said he preferred to steal at night. He said he would scout where cattle stayed and slept during the day.

He said he started working on farms in the 1990s, and wanted to amass wealth and cattle “like the white man”. 

He said many white livestock thieves had approached him to work with them, but he refused because “they would take me to jail”.

After spending seven years in prison for his criminal activities, he said God has changed his life.

Mahini said his purpose is to pray and give guidance to people who find themselves in the same situation.

TimesLIVE