INLSA
Vusumusi Msimango, left, and Khulukani Nkomonde in the dock at the Empangeni Regional Court, where they were sentenced for the illegal possession of rhino horn yesterday.| Picture: Marie Strachan
Marie Strachan and Melanie Gosling
TWO MEN convicted of illegally being in possession of a white rhino horn were each sentenced in the Empangeni Regional Court yesterday to 10 years in prison, five of which are suspended for five years.
Although admitting to removing the animal’s horn, Khulukani Welcome Nkomonde, 37, and Vusumusi Msimango, 43, pleaded not guilty to killing the animal, maintaining that they had come across the animal’s carcass and removed the horn. There was insufficient evidence to prove that they had been involved in killing the animal.
Handing down sentence, agistrate T Ngema said he had been persuaded by the men’s conduct at the time of their arrest, on November 11, 2010, that they “did not resist arrest and did not attempt to flee”.
“They accepted blame for not only acquiring the horn but also transporting it. Though it may not be true that the animal was already dead, there is no evidence to prove that they were involved in its death.”
Ngema said the men had known that taking the horn was illegal and that they had had ample time to withdraw from their actions – by discarding the horn or handing it to the police or conservation officers – while transporting it to Gauteng for sale.
“You persisted and all you had in mind or what was of paramount importance was your financial gain… White rhino are a protected species and the conservation of rhino is of national and ecological interest. The high cost of conserving rhino is paid for by South African citizens, while the high price horns fetch goes to non-South Africans.”
KZN Wildlife crime working group spokesman Rod Potter hailed this as “a good deterrent to others”.
“The court’s message is clear: if the State had been able to prove that these men had killed the rhino, the court would have imposed a direct imprisonment of 10 years.”
Meanwhile, the two rhino whose horns were hacked off by poachers after the animals had been drugged at Fairy Glen, near Worcester, are still alive after eight days – and game reserve owner Pieter de Jager believes they may pull through.
“The female is looking better; I’m very positive about her. The male is still in danger. He’s blind, and I’m hoping it’s an infection, but the vet said it would be permanent. He walked alright for two days and then walked in circles.
“On Sunday he stood up and walked straight to the waterhole and lay in the water for half the day to cool off. Then he stood up and I gave him lucerne. He ate and went back to the water,” De Jager said.
He had been told that this was the longest a rhino had survived after suffering this sort of injury and after being drugged.
