Cedric Coetzee, head of rhino conservation at KZN's Hluhluwe Imfolozi, said when I visited there in 2016 that it could take poachers several days to track down the Kruger rhinos. , said poachers are unable to catch poachers due to the high density of animals in the KwaZulu-Natal reserve. There he stays for only 2-3 hours, after which he sometimes kills the rhinoceros and runs away with its horn.
The sharp increase in poaching in KZN shows that the migration of gangs has made rhinos more accessible in reserves such as Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, exposing them to poaching.
KZN is a province plagued by corruption, political and criminal violence, and bitter factionalism within the ruling African National Congress Party.
bribe
Corruption in state government, law enforcement, and judicial institutions is widespread. A key example of this is the investigation and suspension of KZN District Court President Judge Eric Nzimande following accusations of corrupt payments, extortion and accepting bribes to appoint unsuitable candidates as lawyers in cases. That's true.
The NGO Save the Wild had been campaigning for Mr Nzimande to be suspended, believing he was at the center of the sabotage case against Sai. king of poaching – Kingpin is a term used to describe the leader of a highly organized poaching syndicate, often involved in a wide range of violent criminal activities.
Mr Nzimande has been charged with corruption-related charges and is awaiting trial. The person implicated in his crimes is ZW Ngwenya, who appeared in court on behalf of suspected rhino poaching kingpin Dumisani Gwala.
Gwala was arrested in 2014 on suspicion of rhino poaching. The trial was postponed 30 times in nine years due to a series of objections by the defense team.
In July 2023, the judge dismissed the case against himAlthough he was declared not guilty of the poaching charge because the evidence presented by the prosecution was for some reason inadmissible, he was given a suspended sentence and a small fine for resisting arrest.
toxic
Corruption, incompetence, and often political interference in cases mean that the heads of poaching syndicates can avoid trial or pay bail for years, all the while continuing to command poachers in the field.
In 2023, 325 rhinos were poached for their horns in KZN, but KZN recorded only 49 arrests and 13 seizures of illegal weapons, indicating that these were low-level poachers, not gang leaders. was a person.
Efforts are being made to root out corruption in Kruger staff and trace payments to corrupt rangers and poachers (the Hawks and international accounting and management firm KPMG have had some success in this area), and to combat staff and park officials. Strengthened integrity checks on applicants. work.
Eradicating corruption within Kruger, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi and other parks and reserves is critical to reducing poaching in the long term. 40-70 Percent of Kruger's anti-poaching and law enforcement staff are believed to be „supporting poaching networks or otherwise involved in some form of corrupt or criminal activity, including high-level fuel theft.“ Hluhluwe Mfolozi is rife with corruption, incompetence and exhaustion on the part of those fighting poaching.
Criminal organizations involved in poaching often have close political ties to corrupt police, judges, and members of the ruling ANC. Diverse connections with corrupt actors in key state agencies strengthen its ability to recruit national park and state conservation area officials and use them to support poaching operations.
as Julian Rademeyerinvestigative journalist and rhino trade expert, keenly observed: “Toxic politics, deep inequalities, corruption and embedded organized crime have a serious impact on the park and surrounding areas. It should not be viewed in isolation without considering the impact of crime, including cash-in-transit heists, ATM bombings, extortion, and corruption.”
Timeless
Corruption in the police and judiciary and the role of local ANC postholders as godfathers of various crimes make this criminal madman extremely difficult to unravel.
The ability of criminal organizations to not only obstruct investigations but also kill lead investigators was demonstrated by the assassination of a Hawks (South African Police Force's elite organized crime unit) investigator. Lieutenant Colonel Leroy Brewer March 2020 – He was a central figure in the fight against organized crime.
Another important figure in rhino conservation, Anton MzimbaA ranger at the Timbavati Reserve, adjacent to Kruger, he was murdered in July 2002 in a suspected gangland murder to rid poachers of their troubles. Mzimba was known as a devoted defender of Sai and as an indomitable person.
The Hawks and other law enforcement agencies have sought to arrest and imprison the heads of criminal organizations involved in rhino poaching, but prosecutions have often been hampered by an incompetent or slow and corrupt judicial system.
Big Joe Nyalunga, a former police officer who turned to rhino poaching and drug smuggling, was arrested in 2011 in Hazyview, Mpumalanga, a few kilometers from Kruger National Park, and again in 2012. He was charged with possessing four rhino horns and a quantity of rhino horn. He was on bail for money laundering charges and had marijuana in his possession, 60 hunting knives and pangas, silencers for .375 and .458 rifles, and a stolen laptop all at once.
Repeated attempts to have Mr. Nyarunga appear before a judge have been frustrated by endless delays orchestrated by Mr. Nyarunga's lawyers after a lengthy investigation, resulting in charges that Mr. Nyarunga used to pay for the rhino poaching and prosecution. A large amount of cash was discovered. Among six Mozambicans suspected of poaching rhinos for Nyalunga.
The case continued to be postponed as some of his co-defendants went missing or were deported, and Nyalunga was arrested on suspicion of rhino poaching in May 2023 following a high-speed car chase following the poaching incident in Lydenburg. was arrested again. Initially remanded in custody, he was eventually granted bail and is expected to appear in court at an unspecified future date.
battle
Serious violence also occurs between and within criminal organizations. Clyde Mnisi, the notorious crime boss and kingpin of Rhino Horn, was shot dead in March 2023 on suspicion of gang murder.
He was due to appear in court in April 2023 for his role as a key figure in the rhino horn trade as part of a syndicate that included police officers and Kruger National Park employees. He is also believed to have been involved in the robbery of cash in transit. Mnisi's wife was killed shortly afterwards in another gang-style shooting.
He had close ties to Nyalunga and another Rhino kingpin, Petros Mabuza, who also died in what appeared to be a criminal turf war. Despite his reputation as a poacher and criminal, Mabuza's funeral in Mpumalanga was attended by leading members of the ANC.
The web of criminal and political connections makes this an extremely difficult task for members of the Hawks.
Disclaimer
Dr. Joe ShawSave the Rhino International's CEO, who was previously WWF International's head of African rhinos and WWF South Africa's senior manager of wildlife portfolio, has announced that The figures „paint a worrying picture for rhinos, especially the Hluhluwe rhino,“ he said. -Imfolozi Park.
Rangers work tirelessly to protect rhinos on the ground, but to have the necessary impact they need to disrupt the upper echelons of criminal networks, which requires a multi-agency response. need to do it.
All partners involved urgently need more resources to deal with this level of threat. There is no overnight solution, but with a rhino being poached every 17 hours in South Africa, he can't afford to waste any more time. ”
The new poaching figures are dire and a worrying sign that we have a long way to go before we can begin to control poaching and ensure rhino numbers are safe enough to recover, and that it will happen soon. It is clear that this is not something that can be achieved easily.
Anti-poaching is important, but the biggest threat is the high level of corruption within politics, law enforcement, wildlife and the judiciary, and let's not forget the overwhelming levels of poverty for millions of South Africans. Unemployment and dire living conditions. This has prepared young people who are desperately trying to improve their lives, who may be tempted by the looted money taken by the bigwigs, and who act with impunity. be able to.
this author
Professor Keith Somerville is a Senior Research Fellow at the Commonwealth Institute, a member of the Durrell Institute for Conservation Ecology at the University of Kent, and teaches at the Center for Journalism. He has written numerous books on wildlife and conservation issues such as the ivory trade, human-lion conflict, hyenas, jackals, and ratels, and his research on the history of human exploitation and conservation of African rhinos will be published in January 2025. It is expected to be published by May. Far sea books.