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Chronicle Reporter—
THE controversial hunter charged over the death of the famous lion is due to appear before the Beitbridge magistrate today facing allegations of wildlife smuggling. Theo Bronkhorst, 52, was interviewed by police last week in connection with 29 sable which were found in a truck in the middle of the Limpopo River which borders South Africa. Two of the sable have since died.
Police had later indicated that there would be no further action against Bronkhorst, until detectives seized him yesterday before driving him to Beitbridge. Bronkhorst is due to be tried in Hwange on September 28 for organising an “illegal hunt” which ended in the death of the world famous lion, Cecil, shot by an American dentist using a bow and arrow in July.
Three South Africans – Edwin Hewitt, 49, Hendricks Blignaut 41, and John Pretorius, 49, from the Limpopo province near the Zimbabwe border who bought sable from Zambia with Bronkhorst were arrested on Saturday.
They are accused of taking the sable by truck across an “undesignated” border with Zimbabwe and are in police cells. The South Africans did not have capture and translocation permits and export permits for the sables. The only documentation that they had was a movement permit issued by the Department of Veterinary Services, according to authorities.
Bronkhorst admits that he imported sable from Zambia last month for himself and for the three South African game farmers in a deal he arranged in Zambia. He said the antelope he bought remained at his small game farm in Matetsi, near Hwange, but insists that he knew nothing about what the South Africans did with the animals they bought after they arrived in Zimbabwe last month.
Online Reporter