Police’s strategy in fighting scourge leaves many questions

Each battle in the war on rhino poaching should ideally end in a courtroom. When the rangers have done their part and the culprits have been arrested, the implementation of justice lies with the police and the prosecution.

However, recent developments in the police’s approach to rhino-poaching investigation complicated matters. Rhino poaching has taken its toll on the Kruger National Park’s (KNP) game rangers and policemen since the pandemic raised its ugly head nine years ago.

In 2008, 83 rhinos were poached countrywide. Thirty-six of them were slaughtered in Kruger. Year after year, the numbers of rhinos brutally slaughtered for their horns increased at a staggering rate. Last year, a total of 1 175 rhinos were poached, 40 less than in 2014. The decrease was welcomed, but the crisis is by no means over.

Various stakeholders have played different roles in the fight against rhino poaching in the Kruger.

These include the SANDF, SANParks rangers, Environmental Crime Investigation, Honorary Rangers, activist societies and, more recently, the park’s Majoc unit.

This unit, led by Nicholas Funda, has been implementing strategies to combat rhino poaching, resulting in a decline in poaching-related deaths.

According to KNP managing executive Glenn Phillips, 64 rhinos were poached in April this year, 24 fewer than the 88 poached in April, 2015.

Although the situation is improved to an extent, it is likely that a large number of poachers will remain active in the KNP in the foreseeable future.

Once caught, these criminals cannot be shot or deported. The law dictates that they must be arrested and prosecuted.

Successful prosecution is dependant on the work of the Saps. The Department of Justice plays a large role too.

Over the past two years, the newspaper Lowvelder’s court reporters have attended various KNP rhino-poaching court cases.

Testimony delivered under oath begged the question: When everyone has done their bit, can South Africa rely on the police to prepare court-ready dockets that will ensure poachers are locked up?

Skukuza’s police station has faced many challenges in the past decade.

When poaching became a prevalent crime in 2008, the station’s handful of detectives conducted investigations in tandem with SANParks’ Environmental Crimes Investigations Unit.

However, in 2012 it was ordered that poaching cases would be investigated by the police’s organised crime unit.

Then, in 2014, a task team was established. The situation changed again in August 2015, when it was decided that Gauteng policemen would fight rhino poaching.

Since then, groups of policemen have been travelling to the KNP for weeks at a time for poaching crime prevention.

Groups of up to 30 members rotate.

Whenever any of these members arrest suspects, cases are opened at Skukuza’s detective branch. These hundreds of dockets become the responsibility of the branch’s three detectives.

The task team members, who have become specialists in the investigation of rhino poaching, have been relieved of the duty of investigation.