A 45-year-old man was on Monday sentenced to an effective 28 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to hunt rhino, two counts of hunting and killing a protected species and one count of hunting without a permit.
The Empangeni regional court in KwaZulu-Natal sentenced Michael Kleinbaas Masuku for the incidents that took place in the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve in October 2018.
Before the incidents, Masuku conspired with another man to go into the game reserve to kill rhinos for financial gain.
Armed with the necessary weapons and tools, they gained access to the game reserve and shot two rhinos — a white rhino and black rhino.
“They removed two horns from the first rhino and one horn from the second rhino, before fleeing. Masuku was arrested shortly after as investigations led to him,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said.
