Hard news

Transcripts missing in alleged rhino poaching kingpin Joseph Nyalungu’s trial

Fortunately this setback is not expected to delay the trial, as the next confirmed dates are only in October.

Four days of court transcriptions seem be missing in the trial of alleged rhino poaching kingpin Joseph Nyalungu and his three remaining co-accused, Claude Lubisi, Aretha Mhlanga and Rachel Qwebana.

This emerged as the quartet of former police officers briefly appeared in the Mpumalanga High Court this morning, January 17. Their appearance follows a postponement late last year to settle financial instructions in a trial that commenced more than three years ago, in September 2021.

On their last appearance on October 4, Judge Henk Roelofse, acting on behalf of Judge Lindiwe Vukeya, ordered the accused to settle the legal fees for the remaining four weeks needed to complete the matter in advance before today’s appearance. This as accused number five, Mhlanga, requested legal aid as she could no longer afford private legal representation. Adv Illana Erasmus was then assigned to represent her. Prior to this, the matter was postponed when the prosecutor, Adv Mulatlwa Mashuga, resigned from the National Prosecuting Authority to join the private sector and was replaced by specialist prosecutor Adv Ansie Venter.

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New to the case, Venter and Erasmus needed to study the court transcriptions in order to familiarise themselves with the case and prepare to continue with the trial. This is where the paw-paw hit the fan. Venter told the court, while the recordings had been sent to the registrar on October 16 last year, that that office had not forwarded all of them to the transcriber. The recordings for four days, including two days on which evidence was led, appear to be missing. One of those days is March 12 last year, on which the court had heard testimony from two witnesses who were part of an undercover operation that led to the arrests.

Vukeya ordered the registrar to locate and send the missing recordings to the transcriber within 21 days. According to Venter, the transcriber would then be able to complete the transcription within a maximum of 14 days.
The case was remanded for further trial on October 6 to 10, 2025, January 5 to 9, 2026, and a third and possibly fourth week still to be determined.

While the missing transcripts are concerning, Venter said it did not impact on the State’s ability to proceed in October, as there was enough time and it therefore did not delay the trial.
In the meantime, Adv Hettie Groenewald, who represents Nyalungu, Lubisi and Qwebana, indicated financial instructions had been received for the two weeks of trial already set down. She did not foresee any financial hiccups going forward, as the court dates were spread out. Vukeya, however, instructed Groenewald to inform the court timeously if she did encounter further financial instruction issues.

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Jacqueline Herbst

Lowvelder's News Editor/Senior Journalist. I am an investigative news hound and photographer who has contributed to several prominent publications, including the Sunday Times, The Witness, The Citizen, and a few of Caxton's local titles. I also have experience in TV and radio. Although I can write about almost anything, my heart is in investigative and sport journalism.
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