By Staff Reporter
Another two of the seven prisoners who escaped from Makhanda’s prison in October last year have been nabbed, with the whole group of convicted rhino poacher escapees now back behind bars.
Nhamo Muyambo and Francis Chitho were arrested by police on 20 May in Mthatha, after police caught another gang of alleged criminals who led them to Chitho and Muyambo.
Muyambo and Chitho were part of a group of seven men who escaped from the Waainek Correctional facility last year. Five of the seven men (Muyambo, Chitho, Simba Masinga, Trymore Chauke, and Abraham Moyane) were awaiting sentencing after being convicted of rhino poaching. The other two escapees were Luvuyo September, who was in Waainek awaiting trial on charges of murder, robbery, and kidnapping, and Bennet Kwarrie was awaiting trial on charges of housebreaking, attempted murder, and burglary.
September and Kwarrie remain at large. Masinga, Chauke, and Moyane were all re-arrested near Makhanda in the months following their escape – Chauke in Seven Fountains, Masinga in Committees Drift, and Moyane near an unnamed Makhanda private nature reserve, where he was found with poaching equipment.
The five rhino poachers were convicted of killing 13 rhinos between 2016 and 2018 across a wide area of the Eastern Cape – from Gqeberha to Aliwal North to the Middelburg and Makhanda areas.
