Arlendo Mhlanga, Adam Hlongwane and Inancio Chauke, who are from Mozambique, were arrested in 2018 trying to leave the game reserve with a white bakkie that was loaded with stolen rhino horns valued at R1,5 million. 

The North West National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Henry Mamothame, tells OFM News that the three men were denied bail after they were arrested and were to remain in police custody until the completion of their trial. He further adds that they are pleased by the sentencing of the trio.

“The NPA in the North West welcomes the hefty sentence handed down by the Mogwase Regional Court to Arlendo Mhlanga, Adam Hlongwane, and Inancio Chauke on charges relating to rhino poaching at the Pilanesberg Game Reserve in 2018. They are confirmed to be Mozambicans and were sentenced to an accumulative 85 years on 10 charges relating to the killing of three female rhinos and chopping off their horns,” said Mamothame.

He further adds that in the argument of the sentence, advocate Douw Jacobs had urged the court to consider the evidence that was submitted by conservation experts on the extinction of the rhino population and its impact. Mamothame says Jacobs argued that rhino poaching impacts negatively on the tourism industry and economy of the country, and as a result, more jobs are lost.

OFM News