Accused reveals he is a police informant
The accused used his inside knowledge of the illegal trade to set up a buyer in Mozambique
MBOMBELA – One of the men implicated in the theft of rhino horn at the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MPTA), says he was a police informant with a tracking device in his possession. This came to light when Mr Sizwe Leonard Malatjie (34) testified during his bail hearing.
Malatjie and Mr Gideon Mtshali (51) appeared in the Nelspruit District Court on charges of housebreaking and theft. Both pleaded not guilty.
In total 112 pieces of rhino horn worth R160 million were stolen from a secure strong room at the agency on April 20.
State prosecutor Ms Ansie Venter said the accused used his inside knowledge of the illegal trade to set up a buyer in Mozambique. She also stated that both had contradicted themselves in their testimony. A total of R130 000 was recovered by police at Malatjie’s sisters’ pit toilet, and he said the money was his personal savings. “I asked him why he didn’t use a bank like everyone else, said Venter.”
Malatjie told the court that he was asked by a man named Jasper Atkinson to collect the device and use it if he spotted rhino poachers entering the Kruger National
Park near Luphisi.
He said Atkinson and three others called Don English, Selby Khoza and De Beer asked him to help them by informing them when he saw rhino poachers entering the park. Previously in court, Mtshali testified in the hearing that he had two wives, one of whom was a policewoman. During cross-examination, Venter stated that Mtshali’s wife had warned another suspect, Mr Shadrick Sikonde, that he had been arrested and police were looking for Sikonde.
He stated that upon his arrest at his home in KaNyamazane, officials had taken him to a building in Mbombela and assaulted and threatened him if he didn’t sign a statement. He said they never read him his rights upon his arrest either.
Mtshali said that he had convictions from 1988 for attempted murder, theft out of a motor vehicle as well as reckless and negligent driving. He was a taxi owner and worked in Mozambique, holding permits to travel as far as Gaza, Masinga and Maputo.
He claimed at the time of the incident he had been in the neighbouring country and only arrived back in South Africa the following day. His defence handed in a copy of his passport. Venter stated that police had not disputed this as they had CCTV footage showing both accused at the Lebombo Border and at the toll gate, when they transported the horns to Mozambique.
The magistrate Ms Christa du Plessis postponed the bail application to
July 2 and 3.
