Suspected Kruger poachers jailed

03 September 2015 - 02:07 By Gareth Wilson

Two Mozambican nationals believed to have snuck into the Kruger National Park in an attempt to poach a rhino have each been sentenced to 11 years behind bars. Phinias Sithole, 23, and France Nkuna, 22, were convicted and sentenced at the White River Magistrate's Court in Mpumalanga on Monday.Police spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said the pair were discovered on October 27 by field rangers in the Lower Sabie section of the park. They were armed with a hunting rifle and an axe.They were taken into custody where they were charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition as well as trespassing."They have been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for possession of an unlicensed firearm, five years' imprisonment for unlawful possession of ammunition and one-year imprisonment for trespassing, totalling 11 years for each."Naidoo added that protecting the country's wildlife was a priority for the police."This conviction will serve as a deterrent to other would-be poachers; they will know that the task teams will stop them in their tracks even before committing the crime."Naidoo confirmed that 749 rhinos had been poached in South Africa this year alone, of which 544 were in the Kruger National Park."The number might have been higher had it not been for the work that the task teams perform around the clock to protect our wildlife," he said."Many poachers are apprehended before committing the crime, and because of such arrests and convictions many more will be deterred."..

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