Van Wyk’s rap sheet includes 11 previous convictions, couple released on bail

GAME farmer, Etienne van Wyk and his wife, Liona, were released on bail at the Vryheid Magistrate’s Court last Thursday… Despite an alarmingly long rap sheet presented by investigating officer, W/O Jacobus Wessels, in which Etienne has already been convicted for 11 previous criminal offences.

The couple were arrested on December 29, a day after Mr Van Wyk celebrated his 54th birthday, and charged with insurance fraud and the possession of illegal firearms and ammunition.

The court heard last Wednesday that Mr Van Wyk had previously been found guilty on April 24, 1992, on five counts of possession of stolen property, on July 14, 1992, again for the possession of stolen property, on October 13, 1998, for two counts of theft, on November 22, 2005, for the hunting of wild animals without a permit, on May 4, 2006, for the theft of livestock, and on November 20, 2017, for theft.

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He also has a pending case in the regional court regarding the illegal possession of cycads and was under investigation regarding the alleged theft of giraffe.

While W/O Wessels was attempting to show the court that Mr Van Wyk had a propensity for committing crime, Mr Van Wyk’s attorney, Shaheed Abdulla, argued the fact that he had appeared in court promptly on all of his court dates in each and every previous case, showing that Mr Van Wyk had a propensity for honouring his obligation to appear in court.

It was an incident that occurred during the court proceeding on November 20, at the Louwsberg Magistrates Court, that led W/O Wessels to investigate Mr Van Wyk for fraud, the illegal possession of firearms and the possession of drugs. During the Louwsberg case, Mr Van Wyk had pleaded guilty to the theft of cameras from the Ithala Game Reserve.

The Vryheid Herald is unable to print the details of the investigation into the current charges that were heard in A Court on Wednesday, due an instruction from the magistrate, Ms A Lentink.

W/O Wessels went on to say that he felt the couple were a flight risk as he had heard that they owned property in Namibia and had relatives in Botswana.

“Furthermore, when I was searching their property I wrote down the registration numbers of the vehicles on the farm. I came across a Volvo that was registered in Mrs Van Wyk’s name that should have had the registration number NV20863. However, the licence plate on the Volvo was NV20862. When they were asked about it, the accused said they had made a mistake, but they were busy changing the engine as well,” added W/O Wessels, indicating that it appeared that the couple intended to use the vehicle to flee, and evade arrest.

“The accused is also likely to destroy evidence as we saw in the Louwsberg case, when he threw the cameras away after being charged with theft. He is also operating a company called Spoor Safaris, which was deregistered in 2007, which indicates serious tax evasion.”

Mr Abdulla denied that his clients had property or family outside of South Africa and said that they would be willing to surrender their passports. He further argued that Spoor Safaris was completely different to Spoor Safaris cc, which is the company that was deregistered in 2007.

Addressing the incorrect license plates on the Volvo, Mr Van Wyk said that his daughter had simply made a mistake when she was having them made and that it was not done with malicious intent.

“With regards to the investigation with the giraffe, Mr Van Wyk was successful in the high court in a civil claim against his neighbour. His neighbour was liable for all costs, including the cost of a helicopter used to return the giraffe to Mr Van Wyk,” said Mr Abdulla.

“My neighbour’s male giraffe had broken the fence to visit the females on our side. We went to court and it was resolved,’ said Mr Van Wyk.

Mr Van Wyk claimed that he managed R4.5 million worth of game on the community farm on which he ran his hunting and eco-tourism business, and that he made an annual turnover of about R1.2 million. “Fifty people depend on me for employment,” he said.

“I was a good boy for more than 10 years until this happened. I am trying my best to stay out of trouble,” concluded Mr Van Wyk.

Mr Van Wyk was granted R10 000 bail and Mrs Van Wyk was released on R3 000 bail.