Major poaching trial nears end

Three men accused of poaching 13 Eastern Cape rhinos in one of the biggest poaching trials to date will know their fate by the end of the week.

Following a mammoth trial and lengthy closing argument on Monday, judge Jeremy Pickering undertook to give judgment on Friday in the case of Jabulani Ndlovu, 40, Forget Ndlovu, 37, and Sikhumbuzo Ndlovu, 38.

The men are not related. At the core of the state’s case is the evidence seized in a raid of the three men’s chalet at the Makana holiday resort in Makhanda in June 2016.

They were caught red-handed with a 10.27kg freshly harvested rhino horn valued at R1m, a bloody saw, .22 dart gun and tranquilliser darts, M99 tranquilliser, cellphones and SIM cards.

DNA evidence has linked both the blood on the saw and the horn to a magnificent white rhino named Campbell which had been poached the day before from nearby Bucklands game reserve.

From that one raid, the state has used what it seized to weave together an intricate web involving complex dart gun ballistic evidence, cellphone usage patterns, and car hire and movement patterns to link the men to 12 other rhino poaching cases with almost identical modus operandi.

They are charged in relation to the Bucklands incident, the killing of two rhinos at a game farm in Jansenville, four rhinos in the Graaff-Reinet area, five from the Cradock area and one from the Great Fish River.

On Monday, the Ndlovus’ counsel, advocate Terry Price SC, took a second stab at persuading Pickering he should not admit into evidence the items seized during the raid.

Pickering ruled in 2018 that the evidence was admissible even though police had acted unlawfully in searching without a warrant. –