THREE men appeared in the White River Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga on Thursday after they were arrested while allegedly trying to sell 62 protected tree ferns worth thousands of rands. John Mkhanzi, Amos Khoza and Shushine Mbuyane of Marite tribal trust near Hazyview were not asked to plead. They were arrested in Hendriksdal near Sabie on Wednesday morning when they allegedly attempted to sell the ferns to undercover investigators from the Mpumalanga Parks Board and the police’s endangered species protection unit. The men are accused of trying the sell the plants for R1500. Bail was refused and the case was postponed to September 16. The confiscated plants are estimated to be worth thousands of rands. MPB spokesman Gary Sutter said the ferns will be ‘rehabilitated’ at the MPB’s plant production unit in Lydenburg and returned to the wild.
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