NATIONAL NEWS - Trespassing and the illegal possession of weapons incurred the four accused prison sentences of 15 years each.
The Nelspruit Regional Court passed another record sentence on Wednesday. Four men convicted of trespassing in the Kruger National Park and illegally possessing weapons were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment each.
Patrick Ngwenya (28), Sibusiso Mpangane (26), Thulani Mchunu (31) and Charles Zitha (29) were arrested on December 7, 2010. According to field ranger, Mr Dalton Mabasa’s previous testimony, rangers were patrolling the park’s Pretoriuskop area that morning when they saw spoors and heard gun shots.
They acquired the assistance of section ranger Mr Don English, the SANParks Environmental Crime Investigation and air assistance. At 15:00 the team closed in on five suspects, who fired shots at them.
