KAROO NEWS - The last two among the five Zimbabwean nationals who escaped from the Waainek correctional service facility in October last year were re-arrested on Sunday 21 May.
The five were convicted in the Makhanda High Court on 30 September last year and awaiting their sentence for the killing of 13 rhinos between 2016 and 2018 across a wide area of the Eastern Cape – from Gqeberha to Aliwal North to the Middelburg and Makhanda areas.
However, they managed to escape less than three weeks later – on 18 October last year – after they used a hacksaw to cut through the holding cell's burglar bars.
Three of the five were re-arrested near Makhanda in the months following their escape.
- Simba Masinga was found hiding in the bushes near Committees Drift and re-arrested the day after the escape.
- Trymore Chauke was re-arrested in the farming community of Seven Fountains on 23 October after he broke cover by asking for food.
- Abraham Moyane was re-arrested near an unnamed private nature reserve where he was found with poaching equipment.
- The remaining two, Francis Chito and Nhamo Muyambo, remained at large until Sunday. According to Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli, spokesperson of SAPS in the Sarah Baartman district, a task team worked around the clock, and their investigation led them to a house in Mthatha on Sunday morning where Chito and Muyanbo were found. The five convicted rhino poachers were initially detained for contravening the Environmental Management Act and the Biodiversity Act.
They now face additional charges of escaping from lawful custody.
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