This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
Public access to information is a vital component of ensuring community engagement in prevalent issues. Wildlife crime is one of the pressing environmental issues of our time.
Wildlife crime investigations are generally covert operations requiring utmost confidentiality to succeed. Investigations and prosecutions in complex cases may take months or even years to complete. For this reason, the information that can be released to the public without compromising cases is often limited. Nonetheless, the Namibian government strives to share as much information as possible with the public.
The Namibian media has welcomed this approach and regularly publishes statistics and feature articles on wildlife crime. These are entered into the database at regular intervals, creating a comprehensive archive of wildlife crime reporting in Namibia.
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Caught with a mother pangolin and its child in his home village near Nata on 19 November 2022, 33-year-old Othusitse Baile will forgo his freedom for the next four years.
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BOT_2023_11_Pangolin Pain_The Voice Botswana.pdf | 287.34 KB |
The Springbok SAPS Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit (STESU) arrested two men who were driving a vehicle loaded with bags of Conophytum bilobum plants on the R382 road between Steinkopf and Port Nolloth.
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SA_2023-10_Two nabbed in Northern Cape for possession of protected plants_IOL.pdf | 304.49 KB |
An alleged rhino poacher has been sentenced to 30 years behind bars for killing three rhinos at Kruger National Park in Skukuza. Sydney Sibuyi, 40, was sentenced to thirty years of direct imprisonment in the Skukuza Regional Court on Thursday for poaching-related offences.
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SA_2023_10_Rhino poacher handed 30 years for killing three rhinos in Kruger National Park_IOL.pdf | 122.59 KB |
A Northern Cape man found with a pangolin skin at a truck stop on the N14 Road in Upington was sentenced to a fine of R50,000. Hawks spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Tebogo Thebe said that Zandray Dawids, 40, was arrested in January 2021 after being found with pangolin skin at a truck stop on N14 Road in Upington.
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SA_2023_09_Wildlife Crime_Northern Cape man fined R50_000 for trading in pangolin skin_IOL.pdf | 285.51 KB |
The Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Johannesburg and K9 Unit Johannesburg arrested three men who were driving a Nissan Almera loaded with ivory tusks around the Bruma area in Johannesburg. Three suspects, aged between 33 and 35, were arrested on Wednesday in Bruma, Johannesburg, by members of the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Johannesburg and K9 Unit Johannesburg for the illegal possession of elephant tusks.
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SA_2023_09_Gauteng Hawks bust three men for illegal possession of elephant tusks_IOL.pdf | 218.52 KB |
Two Zimbabwean men have been remanded in custody after they were found in possession of a live pangolin.
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BOT_2023_08_Duo nabbed in possession of a pangolin_The Voice.pdf | 274.54 KB |
Zwelithini Mathebula 37, and Lucky Mhlongo 39, were sentenced to 34 years' imprisonment while their co-accused Teddy Dlamini 37, was sentenced to 39 years' imprisonment. NPA regional spokesperson Monica Nyuswa, said that the three culprits were arrested in November 2019, along with their two co-accused who absconded after they were granted bail. The three were convicted of killing three rhinos, possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of a firearm, conspiracy to commit a crime, possession of ammunition, and possession of a dangerous weapon.
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SA_2023_04_Trio of rhino KNP poachers handed prison terms totalling over 100 years_IOL 2023.pdf | 295.28 KB |
Two suspects, aged of 43 and 44 years, appeared before the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Thursday after they were arrested for being in possession of two elephant tusks they tried to sell to the officers. This followed information acquired by the Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Investigation team in Free State concerning the two suspects who were trying to sell the tusks in Bloemfontein.
Cape Town - Anti-rhino poaching activist Wayne Bolton has called for stronger collaborative action from the government amid concern over rising rhino poaching cases. According to Bolton, rhino poaching across Africa saw a significant decrease during strict Covid-19 lockdowns, but as the restrictions loosened, poachers intensified their onslaught on the species, with South Africa being hardest hit.
Prosecutor general Martha Imalwa has responded to articles published in the New Era and The Namibian about the trial of a Chinese businessman, Hou Xue Cheng, and his Namibian co-accused Hamutenja Hamutenya, whose cases were struck from the court roll recently. The reason the charges on dealing in controlled wildlife products were dismissed was that neither the witnesses nor the docket was before the court. According to the PG, the information contained in the articles was incorrect.
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NAM_2022_09_PG explains missing dockets case_New Era.pdf | 366.5 KB |
Regional Court Magistrate Leopoldt Hangalo yesterday struck the case of a Chinese businessman, Hou Xue Cheng and his Namibian co-accused Hamutenja Hamutenya on a count of dealing in controlled wildlife products, from the court roll. The reason was that no docket nor witnesses were before the court. The magistrate said the matter has been coming from 2014, and the State failed to get their affairs in order for it to start. He cancelled the bail of N$100 000 for Cheng and N$5 000 for Hamutenya, and ordered it to be refunded to the depositors.
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NAM_2022_09_Chinese nationals docket disappears_New Era.pdf | 400.12 KB |
A sense of remorse and a convincing mitigation statement have saved a convicted ivory dealer from a lengthy jail term as he got off lightly with a reduced sentence. Poul Garirayi would have been condemned to a mandatory 10-year maximum jail term and a hefty fine for the elephant tusks valued at P10 233.22 that he was found in possession of.
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BOT_2021_11_Illegal Ivory Dealer Jailed For Two Years_The Voice Botswana.pdf | 432.33 KB |
A man caught with a single elephant tusk during an unexpected run-in with the police in the bush two years ago will learn his fate next Thursday. Although he tried to hide the offending item beneath his jacket during his unplanned encounter with the cops, the big bulge gave Gaosego Emang Seipato away. The 35-year-old met his downfall on 3 May 2019, when he was rumbled by a police patrol who were actually on the lookout for illegal gold miners in the bushes between Matshelagabedi and BDF training centre on the outskirts of Francistown.
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BOT_2021_09_Busted In The Bush_TheVoiceBw.pdf | 496.73 KB |
A big-hearted boyfriend who managed to get his lover off the hook after the pair were caught with two elephant tusks has been taken to task over the matter and jailed for two years. Zimbabwean native, Brian Ndlovu admitted to being in possession of the ivory, claiming he had been given the tusks by another man with the instruction to sell them. He was busted when police received a tip-off of a man trying to sell tusks at Tonota lands. Swooping into action on 22 January, the cops pounced to find Ndlovu in the presence of his girlfriend and home-girl, Mary Sibanda.
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BOT_2021_09_Big-Hearted Boyfriend Jailed In Elephant Tusk Takedown_TheVoiceBw.pdf | 458.21 KB |
A group of self-proclaimed reformed poachers in the districts of Rukungiri, Mitooma and Kanungu have cried out to government demanding income-generating projects. Members constituting the group are from areas neighbouring Queen Elizabeth National Game Park in Bwambara Sub- County, Rukungiri District, Kiyanga Sub-County, Mitooma District and Kanungu District. They say "life is becoming harder unlike when they used to poach."
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UGA_2021_08_Reformed poachers cry out for help_allAfrica_com.pdf | 87.3 KB |
Windhoek High Court Judge Herman January on Friday dismissed an appeal against the ruling of magistrate Linus Samunzala to release self-styled prophet Jackson Babi on bail pending his trial. Babi faces charges of possessing or dealing in two rhino horns, hunting a rhinoceros that is protected by law and possessing a hunting rifle and ammunition without a licence. The State claims Babi and Frizans Naululu Dumeni were in possession or dealt in two rhino horns at Babi’s residence in Kleine Kuppe in Windhoek between 26-27 May 2020.
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NAM_2021_08_Babi to remain in custody bail appeal dismissed_New Era.pdf | 391.57 KB |
A bail appeal by three men accused of smuggling rhino horns failed in the Oshakati High Court when acting Judge David Munsu dismissed their appeal against the refusal of bail, by the Opuwo magistrate's court.
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NAM_2021_07_Rhino horn accused bail appeal fails_New Era.pdf | 513.36 KB |
A former Brave Warriors chiropractor, who was later charged with murder as well as poaching, has died in custody. Kandjii was being held in custody with two others suspected of killing two adult white rhinos on the farm Khainas near Gobabis in December 2016. They have also been accused of wounding two more rhinos
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NAM_2021_07_Murder_poaching accused dies in custody_New Era.pdf | 378.14 KB |
Flamboyant preacher Jackson Babi yesterday withdrew an urgent application that his lawyer Kadhila Amoomo had filed in the High Court last week to have his arrest and the search at his house declared as unlawful.
Just as Judge Harald Geier was ready to hear evidence, Amoomo filed the request to withdraw the matter and offered costs to the lawyers of the prosecutor general, the inspector general of the Namibian Police and the magistrate of the district of Gobabis, who had indicated that they would oppose the application.
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NAM_2020-06_Preacher withdraws urgent application_New Era.pdf | 319.77 KB |