Minister takes ex-police officer to task over poaching

Sikhumbuzo Moyo/Flora Fadzai Sibanda, Chronicle Writers

DEPUTY Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Cde Simelisizwe Sibanda, on Saturday confronted a retired senior police officer who has been illegally dealing in charcoal from poached trees in Goodwood Village, Bubi district.

Retired Chief Inspector Tendayi Botsa is alleged to have been conniving with villagers in Goodwood, Ward Six where he would give them some incentives like mealie-meal or groceries in exchange for charcoal. The villagers would then illegally chop down trees, especially mopane trees to make charcoal.

Botsa, an ex-transport department technician, would then regularly drive to the village using an ex-police Land Rover vehicle where he allegedly masqueraded as a serving police officer whenever he encountered police roadblocks along the way.

Deputy Minister Sibanda, who is also the National Assembly representative for Bubi, said there is massive felling of trees in the district by poachers who are working with charcoal merchants, and Botsa was one of the masterminds.

“I first phoned him in November last year, telling him to stop forthwith his illegal activities, which he promised not to continue. However, villagers said he never stopped. So, today (Saturday) I met him on his way to Goodwood village and I immediately confronted him and ordered that he returns to Bulawayo,” said Dep Minister Sibanda in an interview over the weekend.

He said Botsa was towing an unregistered trailer with bags of cement but what was to later disturb him was that he even had the temerity of misrepresenting himself as a serving senior police officer stationed at the Drill Hall.

“When we got to a roadblock at Nkenyane, police officers told me that he frequently passes by carrying charcoal but they couldn’t arrest him since he was their senior officer,” said Deputy Minister Sibanda.

“At that time, I also wasn’t aware that he had retired from service until later when I phoned senior police commanders who promised me that the issue will be thoroughly investigated with an arrest even possible.”

When contacted for comment on Saturday, Botsa denied that he was on his usual errands to get charcoal but was instead on his way to his plot while the fertilizer was for Mhlabathini Primary School. He, however, confirmed that Cde Sibanda phoned him in November last year and ordered that he stop the charcoal business, which he did.

However, he changed his story yesterday and also denied that he misrepresented himself to the Deputy Minister as a serving police officer.

“I never dealt in charcoal, those were just hearsays. I also didn’t misrepresent myself to the Deputy Minister, it was him who just said I was a serving police officer,” said Botsa.

The case comes after the Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Mangaliso Ndlovu has condemned the illegal production of charcoal in Bubi District. He said the practice was not only illegal but a threat to the environment.

“I understand the person buying the charcoal is not from here and is suspected to be a law officer. If this is the case l am really disappointed because these are the people meant to protect everyone else and capture everyone who is in the wrong.

“I am going to engage with the resident minister so we can look for a way forward, which can help us to stop this illegal manufacturing of charcoal,” said Minister Ndlovu who visited the district last week.

He urged villagers to report the culprits who are cutting down trees as they are the ones able to pinpoint their buyers.
Chief Mtshane Khumalo weighed in and said there was hesitance from villages to expose both those cutting down the trees.

“The area where they are cutting down the trees is slowly becoming a desert. I am worried if these people are not cautioned, we will have problems in a few months to come because they are just cutting down and not replacing,” he said. “This is very bad especially because the person benefiting the most is not from here but is using locals to help him do his dirty job. We are working hand in hand with the police to ensure everyone involved is caught and brought into the hands of the law,” said Chief Mtshane.

Meanwhile, a kombi towing a trailer fully loaded with 34 bags of charcoal enroute to Bulawayo was intercepted by a Bubi District environmental management team before Inyathi Business Centre turnoff on Saturday.