Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mogwase Regional Court in South Africa’s North West province on Thursday imposed long jail sentences on three Mozambican nationals, charged with rhino poaching.
According to South African press reports Arlindo Mhlanga, Mhlanga, Adam Hlongwane and Inacio Chauke were arrested on 2 July 2018, as they tried to leave the Pilanesburg Game Reserve. But police stopped their vehicle and found it was carrying rhino horns valued at 1.5 million rands (about 102,000 US dollars), according to a spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in North West Province, Henry Mamothame.
The three applied for bail, but it was denied and so they remained in police custody until the completion of the trial this week.
The charges against the three, said Mamothame, included three counts of illegally killing three female rhinos, possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of ammunition, and possession of six rhino horns
“Mhlanga and his co-accused will spend an effective 35 years in prison for the crimes they committed. The court also declared them unfit to possess firearms”. said Mamothame.
Prosecutor Douw Jacobs urged the court to consider the evidence submitted by conservation experts on the extinction of the rhino population and its impact. “He argued that rhino poaching impacts negatively to the tourism industry and the economy of the country as it results in job losses,” said Mamothame.
On Friday, the Skukuza regional court in South Africa sentenced another three poachers, one of them a Mozambican, to prison sentences totalling 105 years for killing rhinos in the Kruger National Park.
A police spokesperson, Col Donald Mdluli, told reporters that the three poachers Walter Hendric Mangane, Shangani Mathebula and Emmanuel Mdluli were arrested in 2017 by Kruger National Park rangers. They were caught red-handed, shooting at rhinos and in possession of rhino horns.
“A report was received by field rangers about gunshots that were heard in the park. They then responded and followed up on the information and, thereafter, with the assistance of a tracker dog, spotted the men,” Mdhluli said.
“Whilst drawing closer, the rangers saw the poachers shooting two rhinoceroses. They immediately summoned a SANParks helicopter for support and the trio were then apprehended. The men were in possession of a rifle, with the serial number filed off, as well as ammunition. The trio were also found with rhino horns which were stashed in backpacks”, added Mdhluli, cited by the South African media.
The court convicted the three men of trespassing, rhino poaching and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. The Mozambican national, Mathebula faced an additional charge of contravention of the South AfricanImmigration Act, as he was in the country illegally.
On Friday, the court handed down lengthy prison sentences. Mangane was sentenced to 45 years, while Mathebula and Mdluli received 30 years each.
