Two suspects appeared in the Ladysmith Regional Court this morning (September 16) on charges of threatening a protected species.  The case against Confidence  Mlambo and Nokwanda Khumalo has been remanded until Thursday, September 18, for trial.

The two were allegedly caught with a high-powered rifle in a game park.

They are the first women in the province to be facing charges linked to rhino poaching. They were caught after skillful intervention by the Newcastle Organised Crime Unit yielded a triumphant breakthrough in the relentless battle against rhino poaching. It is alleged that the women were preparing to have two rhinos at Weenen Game Reserve killed and de-horned for the princely sum of R500,000.

Abrie de Klerk, a member of the Newcastle Organised Crime Unit and an integral part of the investigation, said that members of the public had informed them that the women were offering rhino horns for sale in early April. An undercover police officer was tasked with meeting the suspects and negotiating to purchase the horns. Three weeks of engaging with them led to the recovery of a rifle with two rounds of ammunition, and both were charged with illegal possession of a firearm and conspiracy to hunt rhinos. The women who hatched up the ‘get rich quick’ plan to kill the rhinos were apparently neighbours in the Weenen area and otherwise unemployed.

Numerous incidents of rhino poaching have taken place in and around Ladysmith.

Rhino poaching is a serious problem in South Africa.