Hope that EC rhino poaching surge will end as remaining two escapees rearrested
The last two among the five rhino poachers who escaped from Makhanda’s prison in October last year are back behind bars. Nhambo Muyambo and Francis Chitiyo were convicted of conspiracy to poach rhinos in the Makhanda High Court on September 30, 2022, together with Trymore Chauke, Simba Masinge, Abraham Moyane and Meshack Chauke.
All except Meshack Chauke escaped from Grahamstown Correctional Facility less than three weeks later and face additional charges of escape from lawful custody.
South African Police Service spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli said the duo who had remained at large were rearrested during a two-day intelligence driven operation.
This is how the operation unfolded – and how the poachers were caught:
Five people suspected of targeting a cellphone battery tower in the Tarkastad area were travelling in a silver Hyundai i10 on Saturday afternoon, May 20, 2023, Nkohli said.
“The information was operationalised and a vehicle fitting the description was spotted traveling on route R61 towards Tarkastad, about 20 kilometres outside Komani,” Nkohli said.
The vehicle was pulled off the road. Police questioned the five occupants and in a search they seized housebreaking implements valued around R100 000.
“A preliminary investigation revealed that one of the occupants is wanted for a rhino poaching incident in the Western Cape. The five men were arrested and detained,”Nkohli said.
A task team comprising several specialised policing units had worked around the clock and their investigation led them to a house in Mthatha on Sunday morning, May 21, 2023.
It was there that Nhambo Muyambo and Francis Chitiyo, who escaped from the Makhanda correctional facility last year were found and rearrested.
“A total of seven suspects were arrested during the operation,” Nkohli said. “Some of these suspects are positively linked in at least five rhino poaching cases in the Eastern Cape. They are due to appear in court on Tuesday, 23 May 2023.
Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nomthetheleli Mene commended the task team for the breakthrough.
“I hope these arrests will bring about a decrease in the killings of rhinos in the province” said Mene.
Prosecutor Buks Coetzee, commenting on the rearrests of Muyambo and Chitiyo, said, “We are obviously very glad that they have finally been rearrested.
The retired veteran state advocate was able to return to representing the state in this and several other rhino poaching cases through an 11th-hour contract from the National Prosecuting Authority. On May 9, he argued in aggravation of sentence for the four who appeared in court. Giving substantial evidence was Captain Morne Viljoen, head of the South African Police Service’s Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit at Jeffreys Bay and coordinator of all rhino poaching investigations in the Eastern Cape.
“As Captain VIljoen indicated in his evidence, there is a strong suspicion that those two accused may have been involved in the recent spate of rhino killings in this area. This can now be fully investigated,” Coetzee said.
“We hope that this will put an end to poaching in the province.”
Muyambo and Chitiyo will appear in the Makhanda High Court on June 12 for argument in aggravation/mitigation of sentence. The sentences of all six will be handed down on June 15.
After a three-year respite, in 2023, there have been 13 rhinos poached in the Eastern Cape to date, all in the Sarah Baartman District, and most in reserves near Port Alfred, Makhanda and Gqeberha.
Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo confirmed the arrests.
Nxumalo said, “The two are [among] the seven that escaped from Grahamstown Correctional Centre on 18 October 2022, where they were awaiting sentencing for charges related to rhino poaching. This rearrest will mean that only Luvuyo September and Bennard Kwarrie remain at large. The Department of Correctional Services remains relentless on its mission to apprehend those who escape from lawful custody. It has to be emphasised that escaping from lawful custody is a criminal offence and those aiding such acts shall be spared no mercy. Assistance from community members, SAPS and other law enforcement agencies has been instrumental in these rearrests.”
