KZN police arrest 3 suspected rhino poachers

KwaZulu-Natal SAPS suspect that the three men that they arrested recently near Jozini Dam in northern Zululand may be linked to previous rhino poaching attempts or incidents.

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KZN SAPS spokesperson, Captain Thulani Zwane, said this was after Soli Berdne (44), Mthembu Mfaniseni (33) and Solomon Tembe (44) were caught in possession of a firearm and ten rounds of ammunition that were allegedly intended for use in poaching rhinos in the area. “The police will establish whether the suspects are linked to other cases of poaching in the area, and the recovered firearm will be taken to ballistics [testing] to ascertain whether it was used in the commission of any other crime in the country,” said Zwane.

The three suspects have already appeared in the Ubombo Magistrates’ Court on the charge of possessing an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and were remanded in custody until their next court appearance on 20 May.  www.stoprhinopoaching.com reported that, as of 14 May 2013, at least 292 rhino had been poached in South Africa since 1 January 2013. This equates to 2,2 rhinos having been killed for their horns every day since the beginning of the year. This is well above the average of 1,8 rhinos that were poached daily in SA in 2012.


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