Poaching dockets vanish

August 22 2011 at 11:20am
By CANDICE BAILEY

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

The rhino-poaching dockets against the man who penned ANC Youth League president Julius Malema’s explosive “intelligence” document last year appear to have vanished.

And The Star understands that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has started an urgent investigation into their disappearance, while the man at the centre of the charges – Michael Peega – continues with his life in Mpumalanga.

Two years ago, Peega, a South African Revenue Services (Sars) employee at the time, was charged with hunting wildlife without a permit and illegally possessing a firearm.

To date, nothing has happened in the two cases, which were merged and sent for investigation to the Polokwane Organised Crime Unit.

Limpopo provincial police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Ronel Otto told The Star last week that according to her system the dockets were with a specialised and dedicated prosecutor at the Middelburg Court.

However, a source close to the investigation claims that the documents have vanished.

Otto said Peega was arrested as part of a syndicate and that the group’s court appearances took place in Nelspruit to centralise the cases. The combined case was provisionally withdrawn by the then prosecutor.

Neither of the people who speak for the NPA – Mthunzi Mhaga or Charlene Labuschagne – could comment on the case’s status at the time of going to print.

Mhaga was sent questions on Thursday. On Sunday, he referred queries to Labuschagne, whose phone had a voicemail asking callers to send an e-mail. She did not respond to The Star’s e-mail.

Meanwhile, The Star has established that the last inquiries into the vanished dockets were in May and August 2009.

The rhino-poaching case was opened on October 30, 2008 at Brits police station in North West.

On August 6, 2009, the case was assigned to a warrant officer at the Polokwane Organised Crime Unit. That is the last action listed on the docket.

The illegal possession of a firearm case was registered on December 25, 2008.

On December 28, Peega was arrested with a first court appearance scheduled for the following day. On May 8, 2009, the case was assigned to the Polokwane Organised Crime Unit. But no further entries are recorded on CAS, the police’s filing system.

A police officer, prominent in the police’s rhino-poaching investigations and who was initially involved in the case, said he had nothing to do with it any more.

“We were instructed to hand it over to Limpopo Organised Crime and I have no idea what happened to it. You will have to ask them,” said the officer, who cannot be named.

Peega, contacted on Sunday, said he could not speak to The Star as he was “busy” and should be called later in the evening.

Peega’s link to Malema first case came to light in March last year when Malema revealed his explosive intelligence report after newspapers exposed his business interests.

Malema claimed the document listed the names of prominent political leaders who had backed President Jacob Zuma’s rise to power and were, therefore, targeted for lifestyle audits.

He hinted it was ordered by former Sars commissioner and current Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

He denied Peega authored the document, but Peega approached The Star, saying that it was his document that Malema had used.

Later, through police affidavits, it emerged Peega had worked for former Youth League president Fikile Mbalula, former league spokesman Zizi Kodwa and Malema as a driver and bodyguard and had recruited others to moonlight for the league in 2008.

At the time, Peega said he “never” worked for the league. Malema said he knew Peega but had not employed him.

Peega, a former customs border agent, was fired from Sars after allegedly poaching rhinos. He claimed he was in a sting operation. This was denied by Sars, which fired him after he was arrested, and after an internal disciplinary hearing. - The Star