More than two months after their last court appearance, Schalk Abraham “AB” Steyn and Limpopo game farmer Dawie Groenewald appeared briefly in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court today, November 10.

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The two face charges relating to the illegal possession and transportation of 19 rhino horns. The long-standing case against them has been postponed repeatedly since they were released on bail in 2021.

Misdirected emails cause delay

The court heard that, due to an incorrect email address, the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) correspondence regarding filed representations was not received by the defence. Both parties subsequently agreed to a postponement date to allow the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to review the representations submitted to the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP).

The case was subsequently postponed to February 22, 2027, for the outcome of the representations.

Steyn and Groenewald were arrested together on July 20, 2021, at a property in the Riverside area, where 19 rhino horns were seized by police.

ALSO READ: AB Steyn and Dawie Groenewald released on bail at the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court

Groenewald was convicted of related charges in the Polokwane High Court on June 17 and 19 this year. Those charges included the unlawful dehorning of rhinos, possession and transport of rhino horns, killing of rhinos, possession of ivory, money laundering, defeating the ends of justice, fraud, and managing an enterprise.

He was sentenced to a fine of R2-million or four years’ imprisonment, with a further 10 years’ imprisonment suspended for five years on strict conditions on the main count of managing an enterprise.

Steyn owns AB Steyn Safaris and conducts hunts in the North West, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces. Groenewald previously managed Out of Africa Safaris as a hunting outfitter.