Push to move rhino poaching case to High Court
Pressure is building on the NPA to take the case of alleged rhino poaching kingpin Dumisani Gwala out of the Magistrate's Court and into the High Court. According to a TimesLIVE report, activists and political parties said last week that allegations of corruption and intentional delays in Gwala's case – which has been remanded at least 14 times since it was moved to the Egwelezane Magistrate’s Court in Zululand in the beginning of 2016 – meant that justice was unlikely to be seen.
At the time of Gwala and his co-accused's arrest in December 2015‚ a private anti-poaching security company suggested that about 80% of poached rhino horns in the province went through Gwala's syndicate. Just days after the Sunday Times story‚ a group called the Global March For Elephants and Rhinos started a petition on change.org to request the NPA to move the case.
By midday yesterday‚ the petition had been signed more than 2 500 times. Gwala is next due in court on 4 August. ‘It is our wish that in order to circumvent any possibility of fraud and/or corruption taking place – and to expedite a streamlined‚ speedy judicial process – we ask that the trial of Dumisani Gwala take place in the High Court of South Africa and out of the KwaZulu-Natal jurisdiction‚’ the petition states.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
