FRANCISTOWN: The joking poacher, Rebautwile Thanxa of Sowa Town was slapped with a P1,000 fine or 12 months imprisonment if he fails to pay within two weeks.
The magistrate had a hard time in sentencing the accused as his age is unknown. Eventually he was estimated to be in his early 60s.
Before he was convicted and fined, Thanxa, who had a Sesarwa translator, had the court in stitches, stubbornly refusing to reason with the magistrate. He said he admitted that he was caught with a Kudu hide, but he never admitted to selling biltong as alleged.
He told the court that he did not sell the Kudu meat because he ate it. Thanxa was overheard saying he was selling Kudu biltong at Penanko location in Sowa. But during investigations, Michael Gaopatlwe was arrested at Sowa in possession of biltong that he claimed he bought from the suspect.
Thanxa is alleged to have directed the police to a cattle post near Sowa Town where four grey hides with white stripes, a bloodstained knife with a black handle, two hooves and a brown and white striped tail were taken as exhibits.
Even though he admitted killing a Kudu, he denied making biltong from the meat and selling it. Thanxa is said to have revealed to the police that he killed the Kudu with the assistance of his dogs before slaughtering it with a knife. After skinning the animal, it is alleged that he used a donkey to transport the meat to Penanko for drying. Thanxa denied ever admitting to the police that he made biltong from the game meat.
"I admit guilt about the skin and hooves but not the biltong," he said in court.
He refused to answer any questions straight and the magistrate later said she would waive the biltong issue. She said she would ignore his previous convictions because he would not agree with them.
Thanxa told the court that he killed the Kudu with the intention of selling the meat but unfortunately his plan did not go well as he was later arrested. He denied allegations that he sold any portion of the animal. "I ate the meat," he said with a smile.
It is said Tanxa has been convicted of a variety of offences in the past. In 1988, under the name Kganne Rebautwile, he was convicted at Letlhakane Customary Court for slaughtering a cow with the intention to steal. He was given seven strokes and sentenced to four years in prison.
In 1993, at the Sowa Customary Court, he was convicted of a similar offence and served a four month prison term. Thanxa has another conviction for killing a Kudu for which he paid a P500 fine in 1998.