The three members of the notorious Ndlovu rhino poaching gang were found guilty on Friday of dozens of charges relating to the poaching of 13 rhinos in the Eastern Cape over a five-year period.
Jabulani Ndlovu, 40, Forget Ndlovu, 37, and Sikhumbuzo Ndlovu, 38, will now have to remain in jail pending sentencing as their bail was immediately revoked on conviction.
The men are not related.
The smartly dressed trio sat poker-faced as judge Jeremy Pickering pronounced each of them guilty on more than 50 charges, including theft‚ the killing of endangered rhinos without a permit‚ and unlawful possession of rhino horn, tranquilliser opioid agents and ammunition.
Although Forget Ndlovu escaped conviction on charges relating to just one of the poaching incidents, it will probably make little difference to the stiff prison sentence the men may now face.
At the core of the case was the evidence seized in a raid of the three men’s chalet at the Makana holiday resort in Makhanda in June 2016.
They were caught red-handed with a 10.27kg freshly harvested rhino horn valued at R1m, a bloody saw, .22 dart gun and tranquilliser darts, M99 tranquilliser, cellphones and sim cards.
DNA evidence linked the blood on the saw and the horn to a white rhino named Campbell which had been poached the day before from the nearby Bucklands Game Reserve.
Pickering found all three men guilty of all counts associated with this one incident.
The men followed a similar modus operandi in each case.
When the moon was full, a car would be hired and the men’s cellphones placed near the poaching incident where they would ping off the nearest cellphone tower.
“When that accused is allegedly in the wrong place at the wrong time on 10 different occasions the degree of suspicion created is, in my view, of necessity elevated into an entirely different realm, more especially when that wrong place on each occasion is many kilometres away from his home and in the vicinity and at the time that a rhino has been poached,” Pickering said.
In one case in the Karoo, the tracker of the hired vehicle showed exactly where the three men had driven.
“When regard is had to the stark landscape in the area it is unlikely that the accused were so enamoured of the scenery that they returned there again and again to view it, even by moonlight,” the judge said.
Pickering said by not giving evidence, the accused had left the overwhelming case against them unanswered.
The gallery was packed to capacity with members of the Green Scorpions, game rangers, game farm owners, and members of private anti-poaching units.
They cheered as the three men were led down into the cells.
Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency CEO Vuyani Dayimani said he was thrilled with the 60-page judgment, which took most of the morning for the judge to read out.
“It was a meticulous and harsh judgment. We are excited by this outcome,” he said.
Green Scorpions director Div de Villiers also welcomed the judgment.
“It is great news. A lot of work went into this over many years,” he said.
Pickering postponed the matter to Monday for argument on sentencing.
Senior state advocate Buks Coetzee will argue for harsh prison sentences for the men.
Advocate Terry Price, SC, will argue in mitigation of sentence on behalf of the men.
Pickering indicated that he intended sentencing the men on April 3.