The two men were arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in 2018 and sentenced in the Kempton Park Regional Court on Monday.
Ntsako Miaas Maluleke and Phanuel Vutivi Chabalala were each sentenced 15 years behind bars by the Kempton Park Regional Court on Monday for receiving, possession, transporting and exporting of rhino horns.
Maluleke and Chabalala were arrested at OR Tambo International Airport on August 18, 2018 while travelling to Vietnam with two boxes containing 27 rhino horns.They were charged with receiving, possession, transporting and exporting of rhino horns under the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act .
The pair appeared in the Kempton Park Regional Court where they faced eight counts of contravening section 57 NEMBA Act 10/2004.While out on bail in September 2019, both absconded from their court appearances but were traced and re-arrested in 2020 in Vhuwani. In May this year, Maluleke and Chabalala were found guilty on all eight counts and their case was postponed to July 15 for sentencing.
Each of the accused will serve 15 years' direct imprisonment and both were declared unfit to possess a firearm.
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