MBOMBELA – Security guards patrolling the R532 between Graskop and Bushbuckridge during the early hours of the morning made a gruesome discovery. The guards spotted a white bakkie loaded with what appeared to be dead animals in the timber plantation they were patrolling.
They contacted police and the two units pursued and apprehended three men. Can Mnisi, the Graskop police spokesman, has revealed the suspects’ identities to be Surprise Ntuli (44), Civil Khoza (31) and Christopher Mkhantswa (40), and confirmed the arrest.
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They were also found in possession of a 0.22 rifle, 144 rounds of live ammunition, one magazine and 17 dead wild animals which included a serval, four bushbuck, one mountain reedbuck and 11 grey duikers, according to the police report.
Officials from the Mpumalanga Parks Board Agency and other role players responded to the scene, and the three suspected poachers were charged in terms of Section 10 (1998) of the Mpumalanga Nature Conservation Act.
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The report continued, “The animals are suspected to have been poached around the Sudwala or Lydenburg area.”
The trio appeared in the Graskop Magistrate’s Court yesterday to answer to charges of possession, dealing or handling of game suspected to have been unlawfully hunted or poached.
