“A picture is worth a thousand words, and should tell the story for those who have no voice.” That is the motto of any good photojournalist.

The award was part of the international CIWEM (Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management) photography competition.

Ngomane’s powerful image of a rhino being dehorned, “Desperate Measures”, was picked from more than 4 000 international entries by the judges who commended its storytelling and photographic merit.

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The judges said, “When his photo flashed up on screen, there was a sharp intake of breath around the judging room. It’s such a powerful image.”

The humble youngster, who is currently unemployed, said winning the competition means a lot, because he loves photography.

“But I don’t just want to win, I want to make a difference. It is not easy to watch such an iconic animal being dehorned. I hope this picture will make a lot of people see what we have to do to save our rhinos and it will make them support conservation.”

He was part of a group of Wild Shot Outreach students who were invited by Rhino Revolution to attend and document the dehorning of their wild rhinos on a private game reserve outside Hoedspruit.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and dehorning is a last-ditch attempt to deter the poaching of rhinos.

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Neville Ngomane is a graduate of Wild Shots Outreach. This Hoedspruit-based NPO’s aim is to engage young people from disadvantaged communities in wildlife and wild places through photography.

The programme prioritises high school pupils from government schools and unemployed young people bordering the Greater Kruger Park.

Despite living right next door to a national park, 99 per cent of these young people have never had access to their natural heritage and have never seen Africa’s iconic wildlife.

Wild Shots Outreach teaches new skills, providing a “focus” and introduction to the natural world and helps inspire and raise the aspirations of these learners – the conservationists of tomorrow.

Wild Shots won South Africa’s prestigious SANParks Kudu Award for “environmental education and capacity building” in 2017. Wild Shots Outreach founder and director, Mike Kendrick is extremely proud of Ngomane.

“This award is a fantastic accolade for Neville, for Wild Shots Outreach, for the communities and all the young people I work with.”

“Can we hope that images like Neville’s will capture the imaginations of communities like his, which border the Greater Kruger Park? And can photos like this bring people a better understanding of the drastic measures being used to conserve the iconic wildlife which we hold so precious?”

He added that the young people he works with have developed pride in their images, pride in their stories, pride in themselves and a pride in their natural heritage – a natural heritage which has previously been difficult for them to access.