Toughen poaching penalties

There are concerns that not enough is being done to prosecute rhino poachers

SOUTH Africa’s criminal justice system is under fire for not effectively addressing rhino poaching.

While security around many game parks has been beefed up, successful prosecutions are few, particularly in Kwazulu-natal, say conservation experts and activists.

There are also concerns about repeated delays in the prosecution of an alleged KZN rhino poaching kingpin, Dumisane Gwala, who was arrested in an undercover police operation in 2014.

Environmental campaigner and founder of Saving the Wild, Jamie Joseph, has blamed the delay in Gwala’s prosecution on alleged corruption within the criminal justice system.

She alleges that the magistrate in Gwala’s case accepted a cash bribe to go easy on Gwala. “How many more magistrates must I expose before Gwala’s trial is moved to the high court? If we lose the war on corruption, we lose the war on everything,” reads a statement on the Saving the Wild website.

Amid these criticisms, four convicted rhino poachers, Mduduzi Magwaza, Emmanuel Xulu, Bonginhlanhla Khumalo and Vela Madela were sentenced to nine, 12, six and three years in jail respectively this week after being found guilty in the Empangeni Magistrate’s Court of rhino poaching and possession of illegal firearms and ammunition.

Rangers at Hluhluwe-imfolozi game park had spotted two poachers in the game reserve, said Ezemvelo spokesman Musa Mntambo.

“They ran away, but dropped a backpack containing a rhino horn”, said Mntambo.

They were arrested, along with two companions, at a police roadblock, and another rhino horn, an illegal firearm and ammunition, were discovered in the vehicle they were in.

Amid increased security An international ban on the trade in rhino horn has created huge demand on the black market, leading to poaching and smuggling. measures in game parks countrywide, the latest statistics released by the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, show that rhino poaching continues to increase, particularly in KZN, where an average of 20 rhinos are killed every month – a total of 222 rhinos a year.

Democratic Alliance spokesperson on economic development, tourism and environmental affairs Ann Mcdonnell has called on the government to address the lack of rhino poaching prosecutions.

She said most magistrates were not appreciating the seriousness of rhino poaching cases, and has called on the Justice Department to “urgently escalate the crime of rhino poaching to higher courts”.

“Tourism is a vital cog in the economic sector of KZN. These animals play an important role as part of the Big Five which brings foreign tourists to our province. Imfolozi is where the white rhino was brought back from the brink of extinction,” said Mcdonnell.

She said that at an auction last year, a white rhino had fetched a price of more than R300 000.

“So a value of R6 million is lost every month from our reserves – not a small amount,” said Mcdonnel.

Kwazulu-natal director of public prosecutions Advocate Moipone Noko said there were only five cases pending.

“In KZN, we had 12 rhino-related matters this financial year. We have finalised seven of the cases (six convictions and only one acquittal), with a conviction rate of 85.7%,” said Noko.

Kevin Leo Smith, a co-founder of Phinda Resource Reserve and the Conservation Corporation Africa, said one of the biggest challenges in combating rhino poaching in KZN, was the topography of the land. The Kruger National Park was much easier to police as the land was not as hilly and bushy as in KZN.

He said the perimeter fences of the reserves like the Hluhluwe-imfolozi game park were also long in relation to the areas inside the reserve.

This made it more difficult to police, said Leo-smith.

He said given the success in combating rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park, it was not surprising that the poaching syndicates had relocated operations to KZN.

Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs spokesperson Bongani Tembe said a provincial anti-rhino poaching task team had visited KNP to learn best practice. “We are expecting the team to table its report to relevant government bodies such as the provincial security cluster. We are optimistic its work will go a long way towards strengthening our campaign against rhino poaching.”