A South African court in January sentenced four poachers to several years in prison for two separate crimes committed in Kruger National Park (KNP).
The Skukuza Regional Court, which in the past has boasted a near-100% conviction rate and under whose jurisdiction KNP falls, held two South African citizens, Sam Khosa and Solly Selahle, and a Mozambican named Oddis Maluleke, guilty of poaching a rhino and taking its horns in February 2019.
Khosa and Maluleke were handed a 22-year prison term and convicted on nine counts, including illegal rhino hunting, trespassing into KNP and possessing dangerous firearms. Selahle received a four-year prison sentence for conspiracy to commit a crime.
A field ranger who worked for South African National Parks (SANParks), which manages the country’s network of national parks, was also arrested for the crime, but he has since passed.
“We are encouraged by the sentences handed down to these poachers,” said Maj. Gen. Zeph Mkhwanazi, the acting provincial commissioner of the police in Mpumalanga province, where part of KNP lies. “We hope that the sentences will serve as a deterrence to others who might consider emulating the actions of the accused persons.”
Close on its heels, on Jan. 31, the Skukuza court handed a 12-year prison sentence to a Mozambican national, Simon Fenias Mbombi, for six counts of illegal activities in 2016, including trespassing into KNP, conspiracy to commit a crime and possession of firearms.
“We are very happy with the sentences — they are appropriate and bring encouragement to our anti-poaching units,” SANParks spokesperson Isaac Phaahla told Mongabay by email.
In the past, there have been several attempts to derail or delay convictions of arrested poachers, including attempts to close the Skukuza court in late 2019.
Phaahla attributed the recent back-to-back convictions to the National Prosecuting Authority, the country’s agency responsible for state prosecutions, prioritizing long-standing cases. Earlier in January, another South African court sentenced a Congolese national to 18 years’ imprisonment for money laundering linked to the illegal rhino trade.
Rhino poaching in South Africa, driven by the demand for rhino horns, has decimated black and white rhinos in the country, prompting rhino translocations to boost populations and dehorning of rhinos to keep them alive.
Official data show 231 rhinos were killed in 2023. While current numbers of rhino deaths have decreased from their peak in the 2010s, poaching has continued, surging in recent years.
The rhino poaching network, which includes transnational criminals, also sometimes involves SANParks rangers and officers, who facilitate this crime. In recent years, SANParks has introduced integrity testing to tackle the participation of its staff in poaching, Phaahla said.
“We have programs to assist our rangers with financial management, health, mental and other forms of empowerment,” he said. “But in the end, it is an individual choice to be a criminal.”
Banner image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
Correction: This article has been updated to correct an error in the number of rhinos killed in South Africa in 2023.
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