MBOMBELA – The Nelspruit Regional Court passed another record sentence on Wednesday. Four men convicted of trespassing in the Kruger National Park and illegally possessing weapons were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment each.
Patrick Ngwenya (28), Sibusiso Mpangane (26), Thulani Mchunu (31) and Charles Zitha (29) were arrested on December 7, 2010. According to field ranger, Mr Dalton Mabasa’s previous testimony, rangers were patrolling the park’s Pretoriuskop area that morning when they saw spoors and heard gun shots.
They acquired the assistance of section ranger Mr Don English, the SANParks Environmental Crime Investigation and air assistance. At 15:00 the team closed in on five suspects, who fired shots at them. They fired back. One of the five suspects was shot dead and Mchunu was wounded. Medical care was arranged for Mchunu and the other four were arrested. An axe, two rifles and a pistol was found in their possession.
The magistrate, Mr André Geldenhuys, sentenced all four to five years’ imprisonment for trespassing and 10 years’ imprisonment for the illegal possession of weapons.
