Five of the nine officials of the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Environment (DFFE) who were arrested in March 2018 in the Overberg have been sentenced after entering plea agreements with the state.
Adam Baadjies, Rudolf Andrew Louw, Alistair Hillmar Maans, Linda Nkeleni, John Stephanus Karelse and five of their co-accused in the matter appeared in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on Friday and were handed hefty sentences for racketeering, money laundering, corruption and the illegal possession of abalone, many of which fall under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca).
Two of the DFFE officials – Craven Siyabulela Mxaku and Zihle Diko – died in the course of the trial.
The remaining two officials – Mervin Busch and Nomvuyo Motloung – were set to be sentenced during the course of this week. Several other accused have already been sentenced after entering plea bargains with the State.
The case stems from their arrest in 2018 during a special operation by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit in collaboration with the police’s Tactical Response Team, Special Task Force, Asset Forfeiture Unit, and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.
The suspects allegedly operated as a syndicate in the Gansbaai area and were under the Hawks’ radar for a period of time until their arrest.
The DFFE officials allegedly colluded with abalone poachers by illegally selling back the confiscated abalone and escorting illegal abalone shipments.
After their arrest the suspects were eventually granted bail until their sentencing on Friday 11 August.
On the charge of managing a criminal enterprise, Baadjies (42) was sentenced to 15 years direct imprisonment of which eight years are suspended for five years.VTo page 2.
