Court B at Witbank Magistrates Court was packed with various cases; the two prominent businessmen were amongst the gallery of people.
On Tuesday, February 9 the businessmen were briefly in court with their lawyers.
The case was transferred to Regional Court until Thursday, April 14.
The men were released on R5 000 bail after they were arrested on Wednesday, October 7 by Vosman Police officers.
These men were arrested after they were caught red handed with carcasses in their possession, night sight equipment, silencers on their firearms and they also did not have permits with them.
A local farmer in the Balmoral area has been affected by poachers; of his 31 Blesbuck only four are left.
The two businessmen allegedly used night sight equipment, had silencers on their firearms and used spot lights to wipe out all the Blesbuck except four.
“This is all considered illegal hunting as the equipment they used was illegal and the fact that it’s breeding season. Of the 20 ewes, five were pregnant,” said the owner of the Blesbuck.
An accredited hunter in the National Shooting Association (NSA) takes an oath; this code is centred on the principals of life: respect for life; respect for nature; respect for the law and respect for fellow hunters, land owners and fellow conservationists.
After these ewes were butchered and their lambs were taken out and left for dead, the carcasses were then sold to the public of eMalahleni for R800 a carcass.
“At a legal hunt a Blesbuck can be shot for between R1200 and R1400, that’s besides everything else that you need to shoot a Blesbuck,” said the concerned farmer.
