WHITE RIVER – Six men who are alleged to have poached three rhino appeared in the local Magistrate’s Court yesterday. The state is of the opinion that it has a very strong cases against these accused as substantial evidence was recovered during their arrest.
Mr Edwin Mdluli (23) was apprehended during a stop-and-go operation in KaNyamazane at 23:30 on Thursday. Four other suspects managed to escape. Two rhino horns, a .308 hunting rifle (not a .303 as initially reported) and 12 rounds of ammunition were allegedly found in the vehicle he had been driving. He allegedly admitted to police that he and four accomplices had earlier poached a rhino in the Malalane section of the Kruger National Park (KNP). He told officials, in the media’s presence, that the animal had been shot two hours previously. The .308 had been stolen during a farm attack near Malalane in June.
Two of his alleged accomplices – Mr Bheki Mdluli and Mr Ralph Mulambo – were apprehended over the weekend. A third was taken in for questioning, but has since been released. Mulambo had previously been implicated in rhino poaching cases. Lowvelder has learnt that the two horns retrieved were a perfect match to a carcass found in the KNP. The men will appear in the Skukuza Magistrate’s Court again tomorrow.
Three other men – Messrs Patrick Nghuwane, Promise Mahumane and Sitembisu Nghuwane also appeared after having been apprehended in the Stolsnek area of the park on September 25. Field rangers had been seated at an observation point that day and spotted men armed with a rifle and a backpack. The rangers requested back-up and SANParks’ helicopter also responded. The men threw down the bag and rifle when they realised they were being pursued and ran for cover. They hid in a rock fissure, where they were discovered and arrested.
Four rhino horns were found in the bag and the suspects allegedly pointed out the scene where they had poached two animals earlier that day – about six kilometres from where they were arrested. These horns too were perfectly matched with the carcasses. A .375 Winchester hunting rifle was also recovered.
Mahumane had a warrant of arrest issued against him for an alleged violent crime committed in Calcutta. Since his arrest, he has also been linked to a business robbery in the Hazyview area after having been positively identified at an ID parade.
The men brought a bail application before court and Mahumane said he had walked through the park to TSB to seek employment. The Nghuwane brothers said they were in the park fishing, although no fishing rods or other equipment were found in their possession. Magistrate Ms Winnie Baloyi denied bail and the case against them was postponed to November 6.
Read previous report here:
Man arrested with two rhino horns in his possession
