Charge Sheet of 637 Pages in Groenewald Case
03 Oct 2011


A 637 page charge sheet, 185 witnesses and charges of permit contraventions, gangsterism, money laundering, illegal hunting and trade in and the sale of rhino horn, as well as contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

That is what is in store for Mr Dawie Groenewald, game farmer of Limpopo, and his ten co-accused when they will probably stand trial in the Pretoria Supreme Court on 24 April next year.

Other charges comprise the illegal possession and transportation of elephant tusks, efforts at defeating the ends of justice and the illegal hunting of a leopard.

Last week members of the Hawks turned up at the Musina Regional Court with a trailer containing documents in the case. At least ten boxes of documents were packed out in the court.

Charges against two of the original accused, Messrs Josef Maluleke (39) and Leon van der Merwe (44), have been withdrawn.

According to the charge sheet (42), owner of Out of Africa Adventurous Safaris, expanded his business with white rhino into a lucrative enterprise that included illegal activities such as illegal dehorning of rhino, illegal hunting of rhino, sale or exchange of rhino without permits and the illegal possession and sale of rhino horn.

The alleged charges also include hunting expeditions by American and Vietnamese clients and at least 19 rhino skulls and other rhino parts were dug up on Gronewald’s farm in September last year. Some of the carcasses were set on fire.

According to the charge sheet there was a common purpose to commit the crimes.

The other accused on the charge sheet are Groenewald’s wife, Sariette (34); Dr Karel Toet (46), a veterinary surgeon of Modimolle (Nylstroom), and his wife, Marisa (38); Dr Manie du Plessis (34), Toet’s partner, Messrs Nardus Rossouw (43), Tielman Erasmus (33), Paul Mathoromela (61), Marthinus Pronk (48), Dewald Gouws (25) and Gys du Preez (31).

I hope they have extra copies for when the originals disappear.

quote:

Originally posted by Brice:
I hope they have extra copies for when the originals disappear.

Good point there. With these beggars, one would never know just how strong the connections are.

quote:

Originally posted by Scriptus:

quote:

Originally posted by Brice:
I hope they have extra copies for when the originals disappear.

Good point there. With these beggars, one would never know just how strong the connections are.

All that is needed in corrupt South Africa is a very strong banking account! Groenewald has that one covered!

Andrew McLaren

Hopefully yields fruit in the right direction. Even if only to stop certain branches of a hunting club selling crap hunts with OOA as hunt auctions then leaving their members in the lurch when it turns out to be an illegal hunt, in a different country etc etc.

The money laundering stuff, heard about that years ago.

As I was told by my PH on my first trip to Africa over ten years ago, "money talks"....we were drinking beer in public on a safari truck in Zimbabwe when we stopped in town to get another crate....$50 US donation to the local police captain and three $100Zim dollar fines paid on the spot...as I remember the fines were about 25 cents US at that time...the PH gratiously paid the fines for us...