Officials face charges of illegal hunting, using Govt vehicle

AN alleged late-night poaching trip and high-speed car chase that came to a dead end in an Okakarara cemetery landed an Information Ministry employee and Namibia Defence Force member in the dock in the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court this week.

In addition to allegations that they illegally hunted in the Waterberg area in the early morning hours of Saturday, Cosmos Sibeso (38), a Tsumeb-based Information Officer in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and NDF member Sinvula Bonnwell Sinvula (52), also face claims that they used a Government vehicle for their alleged poaching trip. Sibeso and Sinvula appeared before Magistrate Suzette Walters in the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court on Monday.Each was granted bail of N$3 000, and the case was postponed to August 16 for further investigation.They had appeared in court on charges of illegal hunting of huntable game, hunting at night, and removing game from where it had been found dead.Ben Beytel, the Director of Parks and Wildlife Management in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, said yesterday that the matter, involving the alleged illegal hunting of not only a kudu bull but of duiker and steenbok antelope – both of which are protected species in Namibia – was still being investigated by his Ministry.Beytel added that it had been reported to him that a nature conservation official from his Ministry and some farmers from the Waterberg area had been involved in a night-time search for poachers in the early morning hours of Saturday when they spotted two suspect vehicles.That was in an area next to the C22 road, between Okakarara and the turn-off to the Waterberg Plateau Park from the C22 road.One of the vehicles, a Sentra, had a GRN registration number; the other was a BMW.Is is alleged that a dead kudu bull was seen in the boot of the GRN vehicle, with its head hanging out of the boot, Beytel related.According to what had been reported to him, both vehicles had sped off in the direction of Okakarara after they had been spotted.They were pursued, but managed to make a getaway.At Okakarara, though, tracks that were followed led into the yard of a Policeman, where it was claimed a dead steenbok and duiker were found.The BMW had managed to disappear, but not the Government vehicle.It was a Nissan Sentra, and it was allegedly found heavily damaged where it had burst through the fence of a cemetery at Okakarara and had driven over a number of graves before it came to a dead standstill.According to his information, the kudu that had been in its boot, had fallen out in the graveyard when the GRN car crossed over the graves, Beytel said.He added that .22 bullets were found at the scene where the damaged car had come to a stop, and that the arrested suspects are claimed to have explained that they merely picked up dead animals that they had found along the road.Sinvula, who is from the Suiderhof Military Base according to the record of the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court case, and Sibeso were arrested close to the accident scene on Saturday, it is alleged.From the Government Garage it was explained yesterday that the GRN vehicle alleged to have been involved in the incident was a Government Garage Pool vehicle that had been assigned to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for June.It was to be driven by a Tsumeb-based staff member of that Ministry, by the name of Cosmos Sibeso.Sibeso and Sinvula appeared before Magistrate Suzette Walters in the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court on Monday.Each was granted bail of N$3 000, and the case was postponed to August 16 for further investigation.They had appeared in court on charges of illegal hunting of huntable game, hunting at night, and removing game from where it had been found dead.Ben Beytel, the Director of Parks and Wildlife Management in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, said yesterday that the matter, involving the alleged illegal hunting of not only a kudu bull but of duiker and steenbok antelope – both of which are protected species in Namibia – was still being investigated by his Ministry.Beytel added that it had been reported to him that a nature conservation official from his Ministry and some farmers from the Waterberg area had been involved in a night-time search for poachers in the early morning hours of Saturday when they spotted two suspect vehicles.That was in an area next to the C22 road, between Okakarara and the turn-off to the Waterberg Plateau Park from the C22 road.One of the vehicles, a Sentra, had a GRN registration number; the other was a BMW.Is is alleged that a dead kudu bull was seen in the boot of the GRN vehicle, with its head hanging out of the boot, Beytel related.According to what had been reported to him, both vehicles had sped off in the direction of Okakarara after they had been spotted.They were pursued, but managed to make a getaway.At Okakarara, though, tracks that were followed led into the yard of a Policeman, where it was claimed a dead steenbok and duiker were found.The BMW had managed to disappear, but not the Government vehicle.It was a Nissan Sentra, and it was allegedly found heavily damaged where it had burst through the fence of a cemetery at Okakarara and had driven over a number of graves before it came to a dead standstill.According to his information, the kudu that had been in its boot, had fallen out in the graveyard when the GRN car crossed over the graves, Beytel said.He added that .22 bullets were found at the scene where the damaged car had come to a stop, and that the arrested suspects are claimed to have explained that they merely picked up dead animals that they had found along the road.Sinvula, who is from the Suiderhof Military Base according to the record of the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court case, and Sibeso were arrested close to the accident scene on Saturday, it is alleged.From the Government Garage it was explained yesterday that the GRN vehicle alleged to have been involved in the incident was a Government Garage Pool vehicle that had been assigned to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for June.It was to be driven by a Tsumeb-based staff member of that Ministry, by the name of Cosmos Sibeso.