Rearrested rhino poacher appears in court
A rhino poacher who escaped from custody before being sentenced, only to be rearrested this week, appeared in the Makhanda magistrate’s court yesterday and was remanded.
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli said Abraham Moyane, 34, would now face an additional charge of escaping from lawful custody.
He was rearrested at the Lalibela Game Reserve near
Makhanda early on Monday after being caught allegedly scaling the fence, with hunting implements in hand.
Two other suspects managed to escape.
Moyane was detained for contravening the National Environmental Management and Biodiversity Act by attempting to hunt a threatened or protected species without a permit.
His arrest came a week after two pregnant rhinos were poached, and their horns hacked off, at the Sibuya Game Reserve, near Kenton-on-Sea.
Moyane had escaped in October, along with six others, from the Waainek Correctional Centre in Makhanda after allegedly using a crowbar to break window bars.
Six of the escapees were part of the notorious Chitiyo rhino poaching gang.
Four of the poachers have since been apprehended and are now back in prison.
Moyane was arrested with five other men in July 2018 after their bakkie was stopped at a roadblock and and a rifle and ammunition were seized.
The men, Zimbabwean nationals, could not produce a permit.
They were convicted of conspiracy to commit rhino poaching in October 2020 but escaped while awaiting sentencing.
Moyane will remain in custody until April 18, when he will have an opportunity to apply for bail in the latest matter.
The convicted poachers, meanwhile, are expected to be sentenced on May 2.