A 48-year-old man is expected to appear before the Mmabatho Magistrates court on Thursday on charges of theft of 51 rhino horns that were stolen in June last year at the North West Parks and Tourism Board main vault in Mahikeng.
The estimated value of the horns was R9 million.
The Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Tinyiko Mathebula said the suspect who is an employee of the North West Parks and Tourism Board was arrested on Wednesday at his workplace where the horns were allegedly stolen from.
“The suspect was arrested by the Hawks after an investigation that has been going on, linked him to a business burglary where the horns were kept before they were stolen in June last year.
“His accomplices, Elias Mangande and Lefa Mankgaba, were arrested last year in July, Mankgaba is out on bail, while Mangande is still in custody,” said Mathebula.
The Hawks previously revealed that the suspects broke into the facility in the early hours of Monday 26 June 2023, evaded all the security in place and located the keys which they used to enter the vault.
“The Board’s acting CEO at that time Thami Matshego told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries during an oversight visit in August that “based on CCTV footage, the incident lasted for one and half hours and that only highly sophisticated people who they knew and worked with could get through such a high-level security system at the stockpile facility.”
The Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Major General Patrick Mbotho has welcomed the arrest and commended the sterling investigative work done by the members.