Key evidence, which the state says directly links three alleged rhino poachers to at least 13 rhino poaching incidents in the province, was declared admissible in the Grahamstown High Court.
The admissibility of the evidence seized in a police raid on a chalet in the Makana Holiday Resort in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in June 2016 was contested by the three accused, Jabulani Ndlovu, 40, Forget Ndlovu, 37, and Sikhumbuzo Ndlovu, 38. The three men, who are not related, face 50 criminal charges related to poaching in the Eastern Cape over the past five years.
After a trial-within-a-trial and a lengthy postponement, Judge Jeremy Pickering on Monday ruled that the evidence was admissible even though police had acted unlawfully in searching the chalet without a warrant.
The state alleges in its indictment that the three men were caught red-handed in the raid with a 10.27kg freshly harvested rhino horn valued R1m, a bloody saw, a 22 dart gun and tranquilliser darts, M99 tranquilliser, cellphones and SIM cards.
Pickering ruled that admitting the evidence would not affect their right to a fair trial, nor would it be detrimental to the administration of justice.
“It is real evidence, the existence of which would have been revealed independently of the accuseds’ right to privacy had the police entered the chalet lawfully in terms of a search warrant.”
He said there had been considerable public outrage at the ongoing slaughter of rhino for their horns. The exclusion of the evidence on what amounted to a technicality would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
The evidence was seized just hours after a magnificent rhino bull named Campbell was hunted and his horn harvested on Bucklands Game Reserve outside Makhanda. The state says DNA evidence links both the horn and bloody saw back to Campbell.
The evidence seized also links the men to the 13 poaching incidents through a web of circumstantial evidence, says the state.
Using detailed cellphone usage patterns, photographs on the phones and ballistic evidence from the dart gun, the state claims it can put all three accused in the vicinity of the 13 incidents.
Monday senior state advocate Buks Coetzee also led evidence from investigating officer Corne Viljoen to the effect that car rental patterns also linked the accused to some of the incidents.
Finally, a flake of paint found at the scene of one of the poaching incidents at Cradock will be linked to the saw seized from the men in Makhanda, Coetzee indicated.
The courtroom was packed to capacity. Economic development, environmental affairs and tourism MEC Oscar Mabuyane and dozens of anti-poaching activists, game rangers and top brass from the SA National Parks (SanParks) and Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency welcomed the judgment.
Mabuyane led a march to the court on Mmday morning to protest the prevalence of rhino poaching in the province.
The trial continues...