The crowds started gathering around 09h00 on the crisp winter morning in Hoedspruit. Farm Watch, Town Watch from Hoedspruit, Acornhoek, and The Oaks, SA Police and others were already in place. The crowds were diverse, from residents to anti-poaching units, workers, the Black Mambas (female anti-poaching unit) and businesspeople. Banners were everywhere declaring that NO BAIL was the only option that the crowd wanted.
This was the supposed bail application of the poaching kingpin, Joseph ‘Big Joe’ Nyalunga – arrested on May 27th 2023 in Hoedspruit after a car chase with Police. He clearly had broken his bail terms of his previous arrest with impunity, and now was about to apply for another bail opportunity.
It was somewhat evident that council had agreed with each other that a postponement of the bail hearing was the order of the day – it was just the terms and conditions thereof that needed fine tuning.
The State was represented by Adv. Norman Makubele, Senior State Advocate in the Office of the Department of Public Prosecutions: Environmental Unit, and the accused was represented by Att. H J Groenewald of HJ Groenewald Attorneys in Pretoria, the instructing attorneys for Adv. ‘Pottie’ Potgieter (who was not in attendance).
The crowds had started whistling and chanting, ‘no bail go to jail’, very loudly in the carpark outside the Magistrates Court prior to the commencement of the hearing. The chanting reached a crescendo when they thought the accused was being transferred to the courtroom.
The Magistrate entered the small, cramped, somewhat dilapidated courtroom, filled with interested parties. Eventually at around 10:20 the accused was brought into the courtroom under a heavily armed police guard. Dressed in a black t-shirt with black pants, he was carrying a dark jacket in both cuffed hands. His air was one or arrogance and he seemed very nonchalant about the proceedings. There certainly was no remorse evident. Armed guards stood vigilantly outside the courtroom.
The prosecution stated that there was a delay required because there were many issues unfolding in the case, and they needed time to collate the evidence. There was a strong message sent through that the state wanted Nyalunga held in Thohoyandou prison until the 6th July when the bail application would be heard.
The defence however tried vehemently to persuade the Magistrate that this was not an option, because if the accused was not going to be imprisoned in Nelspruit, then because of the distance involved he should be held in Polokwane. The distance of Thohoyandou from Pretoria would in effect prejudice the defendant when it came to personal consultations with him.
The state countered by declaring that in fact, the request for imprisonment in Thoyondou was for the safety of the defendant as well as for the safety of the security forces involved. There had already been an incident on the road from Nelspruit to Hoedspruit, when there was an attempt at delaying (possibly attacking) the vehicles transporting the accused. He stated that the difference in distance from Pretoria to Nelspruit and Thohoyandou was negligible. The Prosecutor also pointed out that even today, matters relating to the case had been presented to them for attention.
The defence stated that there had been no attempt by the accused to escape from prison and that Polokwane in their view was the best option. She stated that she had known the accused for 15 years.
The Magistrate was very direct and considered in her ruling. She had heard both submissions and stated that in the best interest of the accused, and his safety, Thohoyandou was where he would be kept until the 6/7th July when the bail application would be heard after the investigations had been completed.
The accused was cuffed and led from the courtroom, with a comment in passing from his attorney that they would ‘speak outside’.
The crowds outside welcomed the decision of the court with a resurgence of whistling and chanting, and look forward to correct justice being done, on the back of the conclusion of the case in the Grahamstown High Court, where a six-man gang of Zimbabwean poachers were jailed with sentences ranging from 16 to 20 years.
MB/K2C
