• The Annatjie Myburgh case has been postponed to January 13, 2017. Mr Paul Mathebula and Mr Selby Mabila were accused of her murder in July this year. Myburgh’s body was found in the vicinity of the Kruger National Park’s Numbi-gate after a four-day search. Two post-mortems were apparently conducted on Myburgh’s body. No results have yet been made public. Both accused are still in custody.
• SANParks’ regional ranger, Mr Rodney Landela and veterinary sciences employee, Mr Kenneth Motshotsho, will appear in Bushbuckridge Magistrate’s Court on January 17. The two were arrested on July 27 after rangers in the Kingfisherspruit area heard a gunshot and, upon investigating, came across a poached rhino with both horns removed. Landela and Motshotso were connected to the poaching after bloodied shoes were apparently found in the vehicle Motshotsho was driving. It was reported that a SANParks firearm had been used in the poaching. Both remain in custody.
• The case against alleged rhino-poaching middleman and syndicate key player, Mr Gert Lund, will be back in the Mala Regional Court in Bushbuckridge on January 17. He was first charged six years ago. Of the seven men who initially stood trial, only Lund remains. They were arrested in 2009 and 2010 following the poaching of nine white rhinos in the Kruger National Park and Lionspruit. Lund and his co-accused, Messrs Vusimusi Mthombothi, Jack Thindimba, Petros Mokoena, Goodman Mahlalela, Vincent Njunguna and Jian F Coil were identified as suspects. Over the course of time, Mthombothi and Mokoena died and Coil had been deported back to his home country, Vietnam. Thindimba’s bail had been forfeited as he failed to reappear in court. His current location is not known. During Mahlalela and Njunguna’s court appearance on March 31 this year, a plea agreement was negotiated between Lund and the state. In terms of this agreement, he would plead guilty on the charges levelled against him and those against Mahlalela and Njunguna were withdrawn. When the day of Lund’s intended plea arrived, he showed up in court without an attorney and applied for state-funded legal aid. No guilty plea was rendered. Lund’s bail of R25 000 was extended.
Also read: Police obstruct rhino poaching case
• Mr Pierre Kruger, formerly part of the management team at White River Mills, will appear in the KaBokweni Magistrate’s Court again on January 20. He is accused of stealing flour worth R1,5 million from his employer. The theft was allegedly committed from May 2014 to January 2016. According to the complainant, Mr Jan Gutter, Kruger falsified various invoices, other company documents and the signatures of company officials. He had allegedly increased clients’ credit limits wrongfully in order to draw benefits from doing so in a fraudulent way. It is further alleged that he had also committed tax fraud. Kruger was released on bail, the amount of which has not been confirmed.
Also read: Anti-poaching dog skydives into world records
• Mr Gustav Olivier allegedly made a fake bomb threat on the police’s 10111 line on April 27. According to the police, a call was received at around 15:00 that afternoon, according to which a bomb had been placed inside the city’s police station. The building was vacated, searched and no bomb was found. Olivier was arrested and, when he appeared in court, it transpired that he was the same man who was accused of making a bomb threat at Produkta Nissan in 2014. At the time, he was also known as Kenny Swart and had a corresponding identity document. Charges pertaining to the Produkta incident were withdrawn. Olivier must appear in the Nelspruit Regional Court again on January 30. The accused is out on R500 bail.
• Councillor for the City of Mbombela Local Municipality, Mr Mandla Mamba, will appear in the Barberton Magistrate’s Court again on February 3. Mamba and his co-accused, Messrs Sihle Nkambule, Sabelo Mlotshwa, Themba Mwali and Gift Mnisi, were arrested on September 10. They were charged with setting alight the house of a murder suspect. While firefighters were extinguishing the blaze, it is alleged that Mamba and his co-accused attacked them and robbed one firefighter of his firearm. The murder suspect whose house was set alight, was arrested along with two others for allegedly killing a man earlier the same day. Mandla and his co-accused were granted bail on September 13. Among his bail conditions, Mamba was not permitted to participate in any community gatherings and demonstrations or any act of inciting the community. Members of the community recently claimed that they had seen him participating in a recent Fairview Mine protest. He was arrested and charged with contravening his bail conditions, but found not guilty. The murder case is still continuing. Mandla and his co-accused were released on bail ranging from R500 to R10 000 each.
• Ms Elmi Coetzee, former bookkeeper of Realty 1 Nelspruit, Barberton and White River, will appear in the Nelspruit Regional Court again on February 24. She stands accused of defrauding the company. Management discovered the alleged fraud during an internal audit of the company in July last year. When R2,5 million of clients’ trust funds had been unaccounted for, the Hawks were called in to investigate. It is alleged that they traced the losses to Coetzee. She reportedly indicated that she would plead guilty and pay back the money, yet this had not been confirmed in court. Her bail of R15 000 was extended.
• The ‘perfume gang’ allegedly robbed Crossing Centre’s Mopani pharmacy and Toy Zone in April. After an altercation with Hi-Tech Security’s armed response unit, ten men sped off in two getaway cars. On their way to Barberton, the two vehicles veered off the road. Five of the ten men managed to get away. Messrs Tebogo Moloantoa, Edward Marion Matthys, Alista Ferris, Baltazar Nkabinde and Ishmael Smith were arrested and charged with robbing a business, housebreaking with intent to rob, and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Their case was transferred from the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court to the Regional Court recently. The five will remain in custody until their next appearance on January 30.
