The Alexandra Magistrates’ Court sentenced a man and a woman who pleaded guilty to three years’ imprisonment each, wholly suspended for five years for illegal possession of ivory.
Thabiso Mabetwa (25) and Angela Mbata (45) were arrested at a Midrand shopping centre while exchanging the ivory for money with a Chinese national who was posing as a buyer.
The court heard that on 4 August last year, police were informed of the two’s intention to sell the ivory. The police contacted them pretending to be buyers and a deal was reached. The Chinese national was approached at the shopping centre by the woman carrying a bag containing an elephant tusk weighing 1kg. The police pounced and arrested the woman as the money and ivory were exchanged, and also the man who was standing nearby. The ivory was forfeited to the state.
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