14 years on: Trial date set for Dawie Groenewald, co-accused

POLOKWANE – After nearly 14 years, Limpopo game farmer Dawie Groenewald and his co-accused will appear in the Limpopo High Court on October 7 to stand trial on more than 1 600 charges involving racketeering, money laundering, the illegal hunting of rhino and dealing in rhino horn.

The spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in Limpopo, Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi confirmed on Friday that the case has been scheduled for the remainder of October and the first week of November.

Groenewald and nine others were arrested in September 2010 and appeared in the Musina Magistrate’s Court where the case was remanded until April 11, 2011 with Groenewald being released on bail of R1m and his wife, Sariette on R100 000.

The other accused, who included two veterinary surgeons, a pilot and professional hunters, were released on bail ranging from R20 000 to R50 000.

The charges against Sariette were later withdrawn.

The case was thereafter heard in the Northern Gauteng High Court and after a number of postponements, transferred to the Limpopo High Court in October 2023.

When the accused appeared in Gauteng in 2022, Judge Hennie de Vos ruled that the case be remanded, awaiting the outcome of a ruling in the Constitutional Court confirming the lifting of South Africa’s moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn.

Some of the charges were then dropped and the accused were served with an amended charge sheet. They have not pleaded to the charges as yet.

When Judge Bert Bam presided over the matter in 2021, he made it clear that he wanted answers as to why the trial had been delayed for so long.

“This case has been dragging its heels for very long. I want to know what the delays are and what is going to be done to streamline the process,” he said.

While out on bail, Groenewald was arrested with AB Steyn in July 2021 for the illegal possession and transportation of 19 rhino horns, and appeared in the Mbombela Regional Court where they were released on bail of R50 000 each.This case was postponed again on November 29 last year in order to have cases centralised but at time of going to print, the new court date could not be established.

In an unrelated matter, pilot Johannes Stone recently paid a R2 000 fine after flying over and landing in Mapungubwe with a helicopter owned by Groenewald.

The entourage allegedly had a picnic at the Limpopo River during September 2011 and Groenewald was apparently not present.

According to the recently released rhino poaching statistics, 499 rhinos were poached across South Africa, 406 were killed on state properties and 93 on privately owned parks, reserves or farms during 2023. This was an increase of 51 in comparison to 448 rhinos poached in 2022.

Rhino horn is highly valued as a status symbol and used for traditional medicine in countries such as Vietnam and China – the largest markets for illegally trafficked rhino horn in the world.

But demand reduction efforts have led to some consumer awareness in these countries, causing a noticeable drop in rhino horn prices, from $65,000 per kilogram to roughly $22,000 per kilogram.