MBOMBELA – The Hawks’ investigation into the theft of rhino horn valued at R55 million from the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) in 2014, took an embarrassing turn when the investigating officer was charged with poaching-related crimes.
Const Duduzi Mothubadse is facing charges in the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court over an alleged incident in 2011.
The case against the four men accused of stealing the MTPA’s horns was provisionally withdrawn on September 15. They are considering taking legal action against the police for, what they claim, were unlawful arrests.
According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman in Mpumalanga, Ms Monica Nyuswa, this was done pending further investigation. However, some fear that more officials may be incriminated should the trial continue.
Court records dating back to the bail hearing tell of cross-border rhino-horn smuggling, kidnapping, police brutality and the police turning on its informants.
The MTPA rhino-horn saga started during Easter Weekend in 2014, when the disappearance of 112 pieces of rhino horn was discovered.
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Mr Ali Gideon Mtsjali, Mr Leonard Sizwe Malatjie, Mr Selby Khoza and Mr Velly William Zwane were arrested between June 6 and July 2. They were charged with housebreaking and the theft of rhino horn.
Senior state prosecutor, Ms Ansie Venter, placed on record that they had arranged to sell them in Magudu Kanyini in Mozambique.
During their bail hearing on July 6, Mtshali, a taxi driver and the spouse of a policewoman, testified that police had assaulted him after his arrest in KaNyamazane.
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According to Mtshali, they threatened him and instructed him to sign an affidavit. He added that the police failed to read him his rights upon being taken into custody.
The next day Malatjie, an informant for the police and SANParks, testified that he too had been assaulted during his arrest. Venter argued that the inside information to which he had access put him in a good position to assist sellers of rhino horns. Malatjie said he was not guilty of the accusations levelled against him.
Venter said Malatjie claimed in his police statement that Khoza told him what the safe looked like. He denied this, saying he mentioned the name of his fellow informant, Khoza, while being questioned merely in an attempt to stop the assault.
On July 25 Khoza told the court he had witnessed Mothubadse trying to buy a rhino horn during an undercover operation in 2011. Khoza and Mothubadse were about to purchase a horn when Mothubadse deviated from the original plan and negotiated to buy it for himself and a colleague. The next day two men conducted the sale for R30 000, Khoza claimed.
The four accused were released on bail of R20 000 each. During the two years since the bail hearing the case has been postponed repeatedly, until it was provisionally withdrawn.
Khoza’s legal representative, Adv Pieter Naudé, confirmed Mothubadse has been charged and his trial partially heard.
“As for my client, we are preparing to launch civil action against the police as he was unlawfully arrested. He was assaulted during his arrest and apprehended without the state having a prima-facie case against him,” he said.
The MTPA concluded its investigation into the incident this year. Spokesman Ms Kholofelo Nkambule stated that the report would not be made available to the media.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) and the Hawks have reportedly launched internal investigations themselves. Sources close to the investigation told Lowvelder that SANParks officials were implicated in those investigations. The source said one of the accused was kidnapped and taken across the Mozambican border without a passport, as part of the 2014 investigation.
The source added that money, recovered during undercover operations, had been pocketed by members of investigating teams.
More police officials and SANParks officials may be incriminated, should more testimony come to light if the MTPA trial continued. As this testimony would be a part of the public record, it would be open for use in the various bodies’ internal investigations and disciplinary proceedings.
At the time of going to press, neither the NPA, Ipid nor the Hawks had confirmed the existence or progress of such investigations or the prosecution of Mothubadse.
