South Africa's rhino poaching declined by 16 percent last year when a total of 420 rhinos were poached for their horns, 79 less than those poached in 2023, according to Dion George, minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment.
Of all the rhinos killed for their horns last year, a total of 320 rhinos were killed on government properties while 100 were on privately owned parks, reserves or farms, George said, attributing the decline in rhinos killed last year to interventions the government put in place.
"Cooperation with various stakeholders was strengthened to assist in alerting customs and law enforcement officials in transit and destination countries to be on the lookout for illegally traded horns over the December/January period when there was an increase in poaching in Kruger National Park," said George.
South Africa has signed cooperation agreements with China, Vietnam, Poland, the United States, Mozambique and Zimbabwe to tackle rhino poaching by sharing information.
Ezemvelo Wildlife in KwaZulu-Natal province, which had a high number of rhino poaching in 2023 dehorned many rhinos which resulted in the decline in poaching last year. The police and the South African National Parks have a good collaboration which assists in investigating failed polygraph testing, said George. The information related to the various rhino poaching crime scenes and modus operandi are being shared with the National Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Enforcement Fusion Centre to determine linkages between the various incidents across the country.
Issac Phaahla, a communication specialist, at the South African National Parks said in a telephone interview that a polygraph is done when "people are hired or randomly" on ranger including the management. He said upon failing polygraph tests the second one is done which is followed by a range of other investigations including the applications for access to the bank accounts. Lifestyle audits are also done on Some South African Parks employees to check if they are living within their means, said Phaahla.
In January, a Democratic Republic of Congo national, Francis Kipamba, 51, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for money laundering and rhino poaching. He was charged with 16 suspects including two rangers. The two rangers failed a polygraph test, which led to the investigations that showed that huge amounts of cash were deposited in the accounts of their family members by suspected rhino poachers. Kipamba agreed to testify against other suspects. George welcomed the heavy sentences which are given to suspects involved in rhino poaching.
He said, "We continue to see some very good convictions in relation to rhino-related cases, with lengthy direct imprisonment terms in respect of cases related to rhino poaching, assisting in the poaching of rhino and trafficking of rhino horns. However, the time that it takes to finalize many of these cases does remain a concern and unfortunately, where the suspects are released on bail, the data tells us that a large number of them continue to commit crimes (often relating to rhino poaching and/or horn trafficking). Accordingly, expediting these cases through our courts as well as vigorously opposing bail will no doubt result in safeguarding more rhinos."
