Case against alleged poachers continue

Date: 02 October 2015 By: Isabel Venter

The case against six suspected rhino poachers recently continued here in the Louis Trichardt Regional Court.

These men face a total of eight counts relating to the hunting of a rhino in the Mapungubwe National Park, which is a world heritage site. The carcass of a white rhino bull was discovered on a farm neighbouring the park on 22 July 2014 and was positively identified as belonging to Mapungubwe.

The six accused are Job Basi Tlou, Percy Manengena, Johannes Podile Sematla, Lebala Sematla, Masolo Soul Sematla and Albino Fernando Masuze. All six the accused were arrested in August last year, following an undercover operation between the South African Police Services and the specialized investigative unit of SANParks (the Green Scorpions).

According to an investigator of the Green Scorpions, Mr Mario Stolz, they had received a tip-off about Tlou’s alleged extensive involvement in the “rhino horn business” from a secret informer. Stolz started testifying against Tlou and his co-accused from 14 to 18 September in the Louis Trichardt District Court.

Tlou was caught, Stolz testified, after he had bought two rhino horns from a Green Scorpions officer posing as a seller.  It was during the follow-up investigations that Stolz realized that Tlou might possibly be involved in the killing of the Mapungubwe rhino.

During questioning, Tlou allegedly gave up the names of his co-accused. Tlou allegedly also indicated that he was involved in various other illegal transactions in rhino horn. It is suspected that the rhino horn that originated from the slaughtered Mapungubwe rhino was sold by Tlou to an unknown Vietnamese buyer.

Stolz was kept busy with his testimony the whole week and was expected to continue testifying again in November this year.

Readers might recognise the surname Sematla. Stolz confirmed that the three accused, Podile, Lebala and Masolo, are family members of Michael Simon Sematla. Michael was found guilty in August this year on charges that he was selling illegal hunting permits on the farm Den Staat that borders Mapungubwe and where the rhino carcass was discovered that is now being held as evidence against Tlou.

Tlou and his co-accused were all released on bail during a previous court appearance and will appear in court again on 9 and 10 November. 

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Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

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