Three appear over Rhino horns


Oct 11, 2010 1:57 PM | By Sapa

Three members of an alleged rhino horn syndicate appeared briefly in the High Court in Pretoria on Monday.

No charges were put to safari operators Clayton Fletcher, 32, of Sandhurst Safaris in the North West Province, Gert Saaiman, 48, of Saaiman Hunting Safaris, and Pretoria hunter Deon van Deventer, 36.

Charges were withdrawn against a fourth man, Kumaran Moodaly of Port Elizabeth, without any reasons being given.

The prosecution will apply on Tuesday for the postponement of the trial.

The accused will face charges of racketeering, money laundering, various counts of theft, malicious damage to property and contraventions of various provincial conservation acts as well as the Aviation Act.

The State alleges the accused had committed the offences as members of a group consisting of hunters, a pilot, middlemen and buyers who allegedly hunted rhino and traded in the horns stolen from the carcasses.

A small airplane belonging to Saaiman was allegedly used to locate the rhino in various national parks around the country.

It was also allegedly used to transport poachers to different national parks, where the rhino were shot and dehorned.

The same aircraft was then allegedly used to transport the horns to Fletcher's farm in Tosca in the North West Province.

The charges relate to 17 rhino that were killed and dehorned between December 2005 and August 2006 in the Kruger National Park, the Mfolozi National Park and private game farms in the Bela Bela and Komatipoort districts.

The criminal trial follows an intensive joint operation between the Hawks, the National Prosecuting Authority's Organised Crime Prosecution division and the Asset Forfeiture Unit, which in May this year seized the accused's houses, Fletcher's seven farms in the North West province, Saaiman's airplane and various other assets of the group.

This was after the High Court in Pretoria in April granted a restraint order for R45 million in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

Three other accused who were allegedly also part of the syndicate pleaded guilty and were sentenced in 2007.

Kalahari farmers Gideon van Deventer and his older brother Nic were respectively sentenced to 10 and five years imprisonment, part of which was suspended. Game farmer Pieter Swart, 24, of Kroonstad was fined R50,000, or one year imprisonment, for his involvement in the crimes.


Cheers,

~ Alan

Here are the names of the accused rhino poachers again:

Clayton Fletcher, 32, of Sandhurst Safaris in the North West Province

Gert Saaiman, 48, of Saaiman Hunting Safaris

Deon van Deventer, 36, Pretoria hunter


Here are the links to their websites:

http://www.sandhurstsafaris.com/about_us/

http://www.saaimanhunting.com/travel.htm


Cheers,

~ Alan

Don't these Sandhurst Safaris people exhibit at the SCI Convention...?

I would hope the ethics committee gets out ahead of this new rhino poacher, and were not commenting on it a year from now.....TIME TO MOVE !!

quote:

Originally posted by bobgrow:
Don't these Sandhurst Safaris people exhibit at the SCI Convention...?

I would hope the ethics committee gets out ahead of this new rhino poacher, and were not commenting on it a year from now.....TIME TO MOVE !!

Rated joint #473 out of a possible 1000 or so exhibitors:

http://www.showsci.org/static/...ndex.cfm?action=List

I guess that means they're pretty large donators!

donor??

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:

quote:

Originally posted by bobgrow:
Don't these Sandhurst Safaris people exhibit at the SCI Convention...?

I would hope the ethics committee gets out ahead of this new rhino poacher, and were not commenting on it a year from now.....TIME TO MOVE !!

Rated joint #473 out of a possible 1000 or so exhibitors:

http://www.showsci.org/static/...ndex.cfm?action=List

I guess that means they're pretty large donators!

I wonder who of the SCI top echlon they have in their pockets.

Can't be Kevin, he already belongs to someone

I checked the SCI website for the upcoming convention and BOTH Sandhurst and Saaiman outfits are listed exhibitors !!

Come on SCI....its time for leadership.
Lets get done.

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by bobgrow:
I checked the SCI website for the upcoming convention and BOTH Sandhurst and Saaiman outfits are listed exhibitors !!

Come on SCI....its time for leadership.
Lets get done.

Bob

Don't hold your breath mate.

quote:

Come on SCI....its time for leadership.

SCI will have to first purge itself entirely of the current one before any serious change of mentality will be noticed - local and overseas chapters included.

Saiiman rank joint 244th out of around 1000 donators (if donators is the right term in American ) so they must have donated even more than Sandhurst.

Not wanting to burst any bubbles; but there will be the usual need for probable cause, defense and legal decision before there is any action.

Jeff

Prison time.
I still vividly remember from my first safari how my PH commented that any white who goes to prison will die. Either while in jail or shortly afterwards. AIDS

quote:

Originally posted by lde:
Prison time.
I still vividly remember from my first safari how my PH commented that any white who goes to prison will die. Either while in jail or shortly afterwards. AIDS

Fortunately no one has officially died of AIDS in South Africa during the last few years. This is not because the former South African Minister of Health Dr. Mantho Tsabalala-Msimang's (spelling?)prescpiption for cure of beetroot, lemon juice and garlic worked so well, but due to the ruling that a medical docter may not give the cause of death on a death certificate as "AIDS" - it is simply not accepted! Viva UHURU! Quote Scriptus' signature here.

But your PH was unfortunately quite correct in that no one, black or white or any other race, lives long after a term in a South African prison. Make sure that your hunt is 100% legal in every single respect, as even one night in SA Police custody may have the same effect!

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

This is weak shakari ... and in rather poor taste, mate!

They have a "reasonable" ranking because they have been going to SCI for many, many years. And like many other outfitters, they do not do donations any more.

Do I notice some yellow liquid on your battery as well?

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Saiiman rank joint 244th out of around 1000 donators (if donators is the right term in American ) so they must have donated even more than Sandhurst.

Sooooo. Quoting rankings from a published website is weak huh?

Riiiiiight.

Steve - you know exactly what I mean. You're not stupid. You also do not have to insist on making a snide remark just because SCI got mentioned. And, yeas it is a weak remark saturated with sarcasm.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Sooooo. Quoting rankings from a published website is weak huh?

Riiiiiight.

Riiiight.

Inform yourself on it Steve, and then post.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Riiiight.

So quoting a company ranking from SCIs own website in reply to a question asking if said company exhibited at the SCI convention and then following that up with the ranking of another company also previously mentioned in the thread is weak and in poor taste?

Riiight.