Former Kruger National Park Regional Ranger Rodney Landela and former State Veterinary official Kenneth Mochocho were sentenced on Friday in the Skukuza Regional Court to an effective 10 years direct imprisonment with no option of parole for the illegal killing of a white rhino in July 2016.
Magistrate NP Ngobeni sentenced the duo to 10 years on the main count of illegal hunting and killing of a white rhino in a protected area, and four years on a second count of possession of a firearm with intent to commit a crime. The sentences will run concurrently.
The court also declared both men unfit to possess firearms.
The sentencing brings to an end a case that has haunted Kruger for nearly a decade, exposing how the poaching crisis had penetrated the very ranks of those paid to stop it.
SANParks Head of Communications JP Louw said the organisation welcomed the stiff sentence, describing the case as a profound betrayal of public trust.
“The organisation views the matter as particularly serious because both individuals were entrusted with protecting South Africa’s wildlife but instead abused their positions of trust to commit a wildlife crime,” Louw said.
The park authority commended the court for recognising the gravity of the offence, including what it described as the misuse of an official state-issued firearm and the deliberate nature of the crime.
“The organisation maintains that a fine or non-custodial sentence would not have served the interests of justice, particularly given that the offences were motivated by greed rather than need,” SANParks said in a statement.
Kruger National Park spokesperson Rey Thakhuli said the verdict should serve as a warning to any insider tempted to collude with poaching syndicates.
“This judgement brings closure to a matter that has been before the courts for approximately ten years and represents a significant victory in the fight against wildlife crime,” Thakhuli said.
Thakhuli said the lengthy delay in finalising the case had frustrated rangers on the ground who risk their lives daily to protect rhinos, but that the eventual conviction proved that the system does work.
The pair were arrested in July 2016 after field rangers discovered the fresh carcass of a white rhino in the Kingfisherspruit section of Kruger. Investigations linked Landela, then a highly respected Regional Ranger, and Mochocho, who worked as an Animal Health Technician for the Department of Agriculture’s State Veterinary Services, to the killing.
They initially faced six charges, including theft of the rhino horns, conspiracy to commit a crime, disposing of or tampering with evidence, and escaping from lawful custody. Four of those charges were later withdrawn.
The court ultimately found them guilty on the two remaining charges: illegally hunting a protected species and possession of a firearm with intent to commit a crime.
Their trial dragged through postponements, legal manoeuvres and evidentiary challenges for almost ten years, a period during which South Africa lost thousands of rhinos to poaching and Kruger remained the epicentre of the slaughter.
SANParks said it also welcomed the involvement of the NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit, which is now moving to have the convicted men’s assets declared forfeited to the state.
“The sentence sends a strong message that rhino poaching and the betrayal of public trust by conservation officials will not be tolerated and that those who undermine efforts to protect the country’s natural heritage will face serious consequences,” Louw said.
