An appeal court has increased the prison sentence of a rhino poacher from 11 to 15 years, reports GroundUp. Limpopo High Court (Thohoyandou) Judge Legodi Phatudi, with Judge Thogomelani Tshidada concurring, said the initial sentence given to Mfana Kubai in the Louis Trichardt Regional Court in 2016 was lenient and shockingly inappropriate.

This was especially so since the province had one of the highest number of poaching incidents and rhinos are on the verge of extinction.

Phatudi said Kubai had committed an offence which infringed the rights of all South Africans to have the environment protected.

‘This pandemic is committed out of greed – to get rich quick,’ the judge said.

Kubai, in his appeal, had argued that his sentence was too high. He said the trial court had not taken into consideration that he was a first offender and a breadwinner and had spent two years in custody awaiting trial.

However, the appeal judges indicated at the outset that the sentence imposed had not been in accordance with the Limpopo Environmental Management Act (LEMA) which prescribed a maximum term of 15 years.

Because of this, they were ‘bound to interfere’ with the sentence and consider the evidence afresh.

Kubai, dressed in camouflage, was arrested in June 2014 at Chataronga in the far north of Limpopo, after a carcass of a recently killed rhino was found with two horns missing. He was found in possession of a rifle, a silencer in a lunch box and two rhino horns in a black refuse bag.

‘....caught with his hands in the cookie jar,' the judge said.

Phatudi said society watched the type of sentences courts imposed in poaching matters and courts needed to show ‘just retribution’ for the crime and act as a deterrent.

He also directed that the judgment be sent to SANParks and the Green Law Foundation which were monitoring the case.

Full GroundUp report

Judgment