The long-running case against alleged rhino horn traffickers Schalk Abraham ‘AB’ Steyn and Limpopo game farmer Dawie Groenewald has been postponed yet again, more than five years after their arrest in connection with the alleged illegal possession and transportation of 19 rhino horns, reports the Lowvelder.

The two appeared briefly in the Nelspruit Regional Court yesterday (August 24), where the State requested more time for the National Director of Public Prosecutions to confirm its authority to deal with representations submitted by the defence. The matter was postponed to November 10 for a pre-trial conference.

The latest postponement follows several delays in the case, including a previous recusal application in which the defence alleged that the magistrate was biased. The State had also requested additional time to review the docket before the August appearance.

19 rhino horns seized

Steyn and Groenewald were arrested together on July 21, 2021, after a multidisciplinary Hawks operation allegedly caught them transporting 19 rhino horns in two vehicles. The horns were estimated at the time to be worth about R2.6m.

They were subsequently granted bail of R50 000 each. Their bail conditions included reporting to police weekly, not communicating with witnesses and, in Steyn’s case, surrendering his passport.

The pair face charges relating to the illegal possession and transportation of rhino horns. They have not been convicted in this matter.

Groenewald faces separate long-running case

Groenewald is also a co-accused in a separate, much older Limpopo case dating back to 2010. He and his co-accused face more than 1 600 charges, including racketeering, money laundering, illegal hunting of rhino and dealing in rhino horn. The case has been repeatedly delayed over the years.

In 2012, the South African government announced the seizure of assets worth about R55m from Groenewald and other accused in connection with the earlier rhino-poaching investigation. At the time, the government said the case involved 1 872 charges of racketeering and related offences.

The 2021 arrest of Groenewald and Steyn therefore added another rhino-horn matter to an already lengthy legal history surrounding Groenewald. The latest case, however, concerns the separate seizure of the 19 horns in Mpumalanga and remains before the Nelspruit Regional Court.

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