KWAZULU-NATAL – On Tuesday 17 May 2022, the Pietermaritzburg Magistrates’ Court sentenced Wade Van Staden (32) to eighteen months imprisonment which is wholly suspended for 5 years on condition that he is not charged on the same offence during the period of suspension.

In October 2020, Van Staden was stopped by the police while he was driving along Orthman Road in Mountain Rise, Pietermaritzburg. Police searched his vehicle and found a rhino horn to the street value of approximately R1 250 000.

He was placed under arrest and charged for illegal possession of a rhino horn. He appeared in court several times until he pleaded guilty on Friday, 13 May 2022.

Source: South African Police Service