Absalom Shigwedha
25 August 2008
The SWAPO Regional Councillor for the Otavi constituency in the Otjozondjupa Region, Bartholomeus Shangheta, has been fined N$2 000 on a charge of hunting protected game.
Shangheta was accused of illegally killing four Damara dik-dik on the commercial farm Maroela in the Otavi area on August 8.
The Damara dik-dik, the smallest and one of the rarest antelopes in Namibia, is a protected species.
Shangheta appeared in the Grootfontein Magistrate's Court on August 12 and pleaded guilty to the charge.
Magistrate Cosmos Endjala sentenced him to pay a fine of N$2 000 or serve two years in prison.
He paid the fine.
At the hunting farm Maroela, the Damara dik-dik is on offer to be shot by trophy hunters for 1 000 Euro (about N$11 400) per animal.
Shangheta has been the Otavi Regional Councillor since 1993 and is a member of the National Council, Namibia's second House of Parliament.
National Council chairperson Asser Kapere said the House had yet to look at whether the case warrants disciplinary action against Shangheta.
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