Africa Wild

This is getting ridiculous!!!




Alleged rhino poaching kingpin Big Joe granted bail



An alleged rhino poacher who has been in custody for the past six months was granted bail last week.
December 16, 2023
Buks Viljoen


Despite what a magistrate referred to as ‘overwhelming’ evidence against an alleged rhino poacher, he has been released on bail.

The bail application decision of Joseph Nyalungu was handed down by Magistrate Sam Phakua in the Lenyenye Magistrate’s Court in Limpopo last Thursday.

During the past 14 years, Nyalungu has been accused of various crimes.

Phakua expressed that it is inconceivable that Nyalungu, also known as Big Joe, is still a free man.

Phakua said that law enforcement agencies, such as the police and prosecuting authority, should be blamed for this.

Nyalungu is a former South African policeman who had been stationed at the Hazyview Police Station. He was arrested when it was alleged that he had kidnapped and murdered a person. The victim’s body was later recovered by police divers. The body was discovered with concrete blocks tied to the feet.

Nyalungu is an alleged rhino poaching kingpin.

He was arrested in December 2011 at the N4 toll gate near Middelburg. During the arrest, the police found a large amount of cash and a black bag with bloodstains on it in his car.

It was later proved that the DNA of the blood matched that of a rhino that was poached in the Kruger National Park earlier that year. Nyalungu was released on bail.

Later that year, during a police sting operation in Hazyview, he was caught with four rhino horns in his possession. The police escorted him to his residence where a trunk containing more than R5m in cash was confiscated. Once again he was granted bail.

In the latest incident in Hoedspruit, Nyalungu and a co-accused were arrested after a high-speed chase on May 27.

Nyalungu was followed from Lydenburg by spotter teams and a roadblock was eventually set up near Hoedspruit. When Nyalungu spotted it, he turned around and fled. Being chased by the police and members of the farm watch, he eventually crashed his vehicle and was arrested. He has spent the past six months in custody.

Last week, Phakua criticised the police for opposing Nyalungu’s bail despite what he called ‘overwhelming’ evidence they had against Nyalungu. He should have been charged and prosecuted, Phakua said.

He said Nyalungu had attended every court date over the past decade and he could find no exceptional circumstances to not grant him bail. He was released on R10 000 bail.

The case was postponed to March 22, 2024.


https://www.citizen.co.za/network-news/ ... XvAc9Syyr0

WHAT!? I cannot believe it

Rancher out on R100,000 bail after ‘26 unreported rhino carcasses’, horns found on Limpopo farm


African rhino horn on live animals at an undisclosed location. (Photo: Zahir Ali / Zali Photography)

By Tiara Walters | 10 Jan 2024

Derek Lewitton, a long-standing advocate for legalising international trade in rhino horn, was granted bail by a local magistrates’ court on Wednesday, 10 January. Private rhino owners, argues a major sector association, are desperate to salvage their livelihood amid a tanking industry.
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Accused of possessing 17 rhino horns along with 16 “unlawful firearms” and ammunition, Derek Lewitton, a local rancher, has been granted release on R100,000 bail by the Namakgale Magistrates’ Court in Phalaborwa, Limpopo.

The Limpopo rhino rancher, a prominent figure in the private sector, had appeared in court near Kruger National Park for a formal bail application.

Citing a need to verify Lewitton’s residential address, marital status and citizenship, the State had previously requested a remand to keep him in custody.

On Wednesday, 10 January, however, the court granted the accused bail, stating that his details had been confirmed and reporting no further grounds for opposal.

According to a police statement, Lewitton was arrested on 22 December after a 16-hour investigation at a game farm near the small town of Gravelotte, where law enforcement said they had found “26 unreported rhino carcasses”.

The high-level operation, conducted west of Kruger, was overseen by Major-General Jan Scheepers, Limpopo’s deputy provincial commissioner.

Launched after a tip-off by “a reliable source”, the sting was executed by a multidisciplinary task force comprising members of the Hawks, the South African Police Service’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation; Visible Policing; the Polokwane Tactical Response Unit; the Firearms Unit and the local Criminal Records Centre.

“An investigation was registered, and a search warrant obtained. The operation commenced around 8am,” noted Limpopo spokesperson Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba.

‘Dead rhinos everywhere you looked’

Scheepers reported that a helicopter was dispatched to survey the property, uncovering a scene reminiscent of a “slaughterhouse”.

“Everywhere you looked, there were rhinos lying dead,” Scheepers said.

In addition to carcasses, some “unmarked rhino horns” were reportedly discovered in a safe “without paperwork”.

Horns with a value allegedly totalling R10-million were seized by the Hawks while the raid also confiscated “unlawfully acquired firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition”.

Lewitton was taken into police custody shortly before midnight on the same day. His laptop and cellphone were also confiscated.

“The law is very clear,” Scheepers said. “Once you find a rhino in the veld, no matter if it has been killed, or has died of natural causes, you are not allowed to remove the horns. You must report it to the South African police and to the department of nature conservation.”

At the time of publishing, it was unclear how many surviving rhino remained on the property, and if more dead animals had been found.

‘Dedicated, honest and fiercely courageous rangers’

Lewitton’s website, however, claims the rancher and his wife, Xenja, are “responsible for hundreds of rhino on thousands of acres of wild African land” through Black Rock Rhino Conservation, a ranching business.

“We are very lucky to have a team of dedicated, honest and fiercely courageous rangers protecting the animals of Black Rock Rhino Conservation,” according to the site.

The site also notes that Lewitton is a former senior executive who holds a law doctorate from Stanford.

The US-educated rancher is well known within the private sector to have fought unsuccessfully for several years to trigger international trade in rhino horn, which is currently banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

We could not reach the Lewitton family for comment.

However, a statement reportedly written by a family representative argues that the rancher was being unfairly persecuted.

“The salacious rumours which are currently circulating the press are wholly unsubstantiated and serve only to undermine the interests of justice,” the statement says. “Allegations that the bush was littered with unreported carcasses, or that horns were hacked out of skulls and packed for shipping are demonstrably false, and if such statements had any veracity, Mr Lewitton would surely have been charged with those offences. He has not.”

The statement claims that “Mr Lewitton’s reserve has been violently assaulted by poachers for months … but it is a tragedy that the police have opted to pursue the victim of a crime with more vigour than the true perpetrators.”

Despite attempts, Daily Maverick could not verify the authenticity of the statement, which goes on to suggest that “as many as eight rhinos” had been poached since Lewitton’s detention.

Private sector ‘heroes’

Since the start of the rhino poaching crisis in about 2007, more than 10,000 rhinos have been slaughtered for their horns in South Africa. With Kruger National Park and adjacent reserves recently dehorning rhinos, illegal demand for horn now appears to have shifted to other reserves and targets.

For instance, in the first quarter of 2023, South African environmental authorities reported that the epicentre of the bloodbath was now in KwaZulu-Natal, where 60% of poaching casualties for the period had been claimed. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, which had not dehorned any animals, was among reserves in the province bearing the brunt of that shift.

Pelham Jones, director of the Private Rhino Owners Association, told Daily Maverick that Lewitton was not a member of the association and declined to comment on the charges brought against him.

Jones, however, pointed out that the private sector remained under great stress — a situation echoed by the landmark 2023 sale of rhino rancher John Hume’s 2,000-strong herd to African Parks, which has earmarked the animals for rewilding over the next decade.

Hume’s attempt to auction off his rhinos in April 2023 attracted zero bids.

Financial ‘distress, desperation’

“Rhino owners are financially extremely distressed,” said Jones. “We own over 8,000 rhino of the national herd of some 13,000 rhino.”

Jones argued that “the private sector has carried out a heroic act in terms of looking after the species. We are growing our population by some 7.2% to 7.6% year on year — that’s after poaching losses, and we derive zero income through any kind of exploitation.”

Jones said the value of privately owned rhino had “plummeted”. Security expenses were “astronomical”, costing the national, provincial and private sectors around R2-billion per annum, he said.

“And so now we’re in a situation of some degree of desperation on certain properties,” he argued.

Jones added: “We certainly would not condone any individual who carries out any act which would be deemed to be unlawful.”

Colin Bell, a South African conservationist and prominent campaigner against legalising the international horn trade told us that “it was never going to happen, so I am surprised that people like Lewitton decided to invest in horn in the first place. The economics for trade just don’t stack up.”

Bell demurred that the “potential size of the market is way too large if demand was ever stimulated through legalised trade. The amount of rhino horn that South Africa could sustainably supply annually to the market is way too small.”

The conservationist contended that this supply “would not be anywhere near enough to satisfy demand. If trade was ever legalised, the only winners would be the international poaching syndicates and maybe a handful of rhino horn speculators. History has proven that one can never trade the body parts of endangered species in the hope of saving them from extinction.”

Lewitton’s case has been postponed to Thursday, 7 March, according to Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, a National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson. It is scheduled to be heard at the Namakgale Magistrates’ Court. DM

the “potential size of the market is way too large if demand was ever stimulated through legalised trade. The amount of rhino horn that South Africa could sustainably supply annually to the market is way too small.

How does he know for sure? It has never been tried, and the population will grow dramatically if trade is allowed.

It's nonsense! How can a market be too large?

Police arrest two men with rhino horns after high-speed car chase
By TIMESLIVE - 19 January 2024 - 16:44






Image: SAPS KZN

Two men are expected to appear in the Vryheid magistrate's court after they were arrested with two rhino horns and a rifle hidden in their car's engine compartment.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lt-Col Nqobile Gwala said officers acted on information about the suspects and spotted their vehicle on the R34 travelling towards Vryheid and a high-speed chase ensued.

“The vehicle was intercepted near Klipfontein Dam. Two men, aged 51 and 64, were found in the vehicle and a search was conducted. Police found a rifle in the engine [compartment] and two rhino horns wrapped in black plastic,” said Gwala.

The carcass of a rhino was found at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

She said the firearm was stolen in Kabega Park, Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape.

“Preliminary investigation revealed the 51-year-old suspect was out on parole for charges of attempted murder and robbery opened in Camperdown. The other suspect is wanted for other [crimes] committed in other provinces.”

The suspects were due to appear in court on Friday.

TimesLIVE

https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/sout ... car-chase/

Two less.....maybe

Conviction Skukuza CAS 12/03/2020
1. Million Masilane (7512015890087)
Backround.
During March 2020 Masilane as well as his co accused Lot Baloyi entered the Pretoriuskop section of the Kruger National Park with a unlicenced firearm. They killerd two white rhinoceros and illigaly removed the horns of the animals. Their presence was detected by field rangers of the Pretoriuskop section and during the subsequent follow up Baloyi fired shots at the field rangers.
The field rangers managed to arrest both suspects and recovered the firearm as well as the rhinoceros horns illigaly removed from the killed animals. Both Masilane and Baloyi were granted bail and later Warrants of arrests were authorised for both accused.
This office managed to trace and arrest Masilane but Baloyi was circulated (2023/W/10110.
It was also determined that Baloyi was wanted in Hoopdal CAS 26/10/2021 and Gravelot CAS 05/11/2021. These are also environmental crime cases.
On 2024-01-19 Masilane was convicted and sentenced at the Skukuza Regional Court.
Count 1 - trespassing in a National Park: 2 years imprisonment
Count 2 - killing of 2 x white rhinoceros in a National Park: 10 years imprisonment
Count 3 - Possession of unlicenced firearm: 5 years imprisonment
Count 4 - Possession of a prohibited firearm (no serial number): 6 years imprisonment
Count 5 - Possession of a firearm with the intention to commit a crime: 4 years imprisonment
Count 6 - Possession of unlicenced ammunition: 2 years imprisonment
Count 7 - Conspiracy to commit a crime: 4 years imprisonment
Count 8 - Possession of a dangerous weapon: 1 year imprisonment
In terms of Section 280 of the CPA the Court ordered that sentences in count 1 and 7 to run concurrently with sentence in count 2 and that the sentences in count 3,5,6 and 8 to run concurrent with sentence in count 4. Effective sentence of 16 years imprisonment
He was also declared unfit to posess a firearm in terms of Section 103 of the Firearm Control Act - Act 60 of 2000.

Unfortunately they get almost always seized when it is too late for the rhinos

Saving the Wild gets green light to join Eric Nzimande hearing

Many of the 162 charges of misconduct Nzimande faces relate to allegations he took money from aspirant magistrates in return for him recommending their appointments
By Tania Broughton - 26 January 2024 - 08:55

Suspended KwaZulu-Natal regional court president Eric Nzimande at his disciplinary hearing.





File picture: TANIA BROUGHTON.

Anti-poaching organisation Saving the Wild Charitable Trust has been permitted to intervene in the disciplinary hearing of suspended KwaZulu-Natal regional court president Eric Nzimande and will make submissions at the end of the proceedings to “ensure justice is done and is seen to be done”.

The intervention application was submitted to hearing chair retired Supreme Court of Appeal judge Jeremiah Shongwe on Thursday by advocate Samantha Martin.

It was not opposed by those representing the Magistrates’ Commission and Nzimande.

Many of the 162 charges of misconduct Nzimande faces relate to allegations that he took money from aspirant magistrates in return for him recommending their appointments as acting or permanent regional court magistrates.

Saving the Wild has previously alleged corrupt relationships between Nzimande and some magistrates who, the organisation says, were at best being soft on crime and at worst complicit in corruption.

In its written submissions on behalf of Saving the Wild founder Jamie Joseph, it states the NGO wants to assist in the administration of justice and to ensure “environmental justice”.




Saving the Wild's Jamie Joseph and Margot Robbie, who is expected to make a film about the activist and her campaign against rhino poaching. File picture: SUPPLIED.

“The applicant is not a distant, armchair observer. The applicant has been actively overseeing rhino poaching matters since 2016. This oversight has included spending hours of her time watching rhino poaching matters in the division overseen by Nzimande.

“This has attracted considerable public interest.”

Joseph said she exposed alarming issues relating to Nzimande’s conduct, which she referred to various state departments for investigation into the alleged “rot” besetting his conduct and professional history.

She reported his conduct to former public protector Thuli Madonsela.

She also issued a public document known as the “Blood Rhino Blacklist”, detailing an alleged syndicate of corrupt dealings linked to Nzimande involving poaching syndicates.

By allowing the organisation to monitor the disciplinary hearing and make submissions, it would ensure “justice is done and seen to be done”.

It will also assist the public interested in and affected regarding allegations against office bearers who wield considerable power. “Such power is subject to public scrutiny and trust in an open and democratic society, based on inclusion and transparency.”

Martin said there would be no cost implications for the commission or Nzimande because Save the Wild was represented pro bono.

The hearing began on Monday with the reading of the charges, after which Nzimande pleaded not guilty.

He was expected to give a more detailed explanation on Tuesday, but lawyers for the Magistrates’ Commission asked for the matter to be adjourned so they could access “critical documents” and consult their witnesses.

The matter will now proceed on March 4.

Apart from the payment-for-jobs allegations, Nzimande is also accused of sexually harassing an acting magistrate, claiming she owed him for giving her a job and sending her a cellphone picture of his genitals. He is also accused of gambling at a local casino during working hours.

Some charges are linked to criminal charges of corruption he faces and for which he will appear in the Durban high court in May.

TimesLIVE

https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/sout ... e-hearing/