MBOMBELA – Mr Leonard Bhuti (Boet) Mashego, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldier and chef accused of poaching rhino in 2010, told his side of the story in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Friday. He said he was not guilty and relied partially on his employer’s attendance register in an attempt to prove it.
Mashego is charged with having poached rhino on September 22, September 25 and June 22, 2010.
It was previously testified that he was found close to a rhino carcass in the early morning hours of September 25 that year.
His co-accused, Mr Michael Sithole, was also allegedly spotted close by.
According to the testimony of a ranger who may not be identified, they were positioned on either side of the Kruger National Park’s (KNP) fence. He said rangers opened fire and Mashego was shot.
According to Mashego, he was looking for his cattle when the park’s rangers bombarded him and accused him of poaching. Sithole said he was digging for herbs when they called him over, arrested him and framed him.
When they appeared in court in January, Mashego’s attorney, Mr Auper Klaas Khoza, presented the court with the SANDF’s attendance register. According to this register, Mashego was at work during the time that some of the poaching was committed.
Senior state advocate Ms Isabet Erwee queried his defence under cross-examination on Friday. Mashego admitted that he sometimes left work earlier or worked later hours than indicated on the register. Concerning his defence that he was looking for his cattle, Erwee asked him about the time period that his cattle were missing.
Mashego said they had been missing for four days. For the first two, he was unaware. On the third day, the old man who was herding the cattle apparently phoned him to report it. He went to look for them the next morning. He said the old man instructed him to look for them “where the rangers came across him”.
This was 37 kilometres from his homestead. The case will continue on March 29, 2016.
