Theft Of R9 Million Rhino Horns: Hawks Arrest Parks And Tourism Board Official

An employee of the North West Parks and Tourism Board is on Thursday scheduled to appeared before the Mmabatho Magistrates Court after he was arrested in connection with the theft of 51 rhino horns.

Lieutenant Colonel Tinyiko Mathebula, provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks, said the 48-year-old man, who cannot be named until he appears before court, will face charges of business burglary.

He was arrested on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in the grand theft.

He was arrested at his workplace following an investigation that linked him to a business burglary at the North West Parks and Tourism Board on June 26, 2023, where 51 rhino horns were allegedly stolen, said Mathebula.

His accomplices, Elias Mangande and Lefa Mankgaba, were arrested last year in July.

Mankgaba is out on bail, while Mangande is still in custody.

Meanwhile, North West provincial head of the Hawks, Major General Patrick Mbotho has welcomed the arrest of the Parks and Tourism Board official.

Mbotho has commended the sterling investigative work done by the Hawks' serious organised crime investigation unit which arrested the 48-year-old suspect.

Last year, IOL reported that Mankgaba had been arrested in connection with the theft of 51 rhino horn, worth R9 million .

The rhino horns were stolen from a vault at the premises of the North West Parks and Tourism Board in Mahikeng.

The arrest of Mankgaba comes after the Hawks previously stated that in the early hours of June 26, 2023, burglars broke into the facility, evading all the security in place, and located vault keys, which they used to enter the vault.

The suspects used the keys to gain access to the rhino horn stockpile and vanished with 51 rhino horns worth R9 million.