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File image | A rhino is photographed during a rescue operation.
Some conservation groups feel syndicates thrive because of weak sentencing and slow prosecutions. This comes after one of South Africa’s alleged rhino kingpins, Joseph ‘Big Joe’ Nyalunga, was fatally shot in Mkhuhlu near Hazyview in Mpumalanga.
The 62-year-old Nyalunga was allegedly ambushed by two armed men at his business premises.
He is believed to have been a key figure in a major rhino poaching syndicate operating in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo.
Saving The Wild’s Jamie Joseph says Nyalunga was supposed to have been sent to jail a long time ago.
“Big Joe should have been locked up in prison many, many years ago. He was arrested so many times for crimes related to rhino poaching, trafficking, murder, kidnapping, explosives, weapons used in rhino poaching, and tax evasion. I mean, he got zero bail for a R13 million tax evasion that’s not related to corruption. I don’t know what isn’t. Look at Joe; he has been in court for how many times, and he gets bail every single time. Bail, bail – what we need in that situation is a specialised court. We can’t keep talking about a specialised court; we need to implement it.”
Video| Suspected rhino poaching kingpin shot dead:
Police say they’re looking into the motive for the shooting of a suspected rhino poaching kingpin in Mpumalanga.
The man is believed to be a key figure in a major rhino poaching syndicate.
This is the second attempt recent on the victim who was shot outside his business premises in Mkhuhlu outside Hazyview.
JUST IN | A suspected rhino poaching kingpin has been shot dead in Mpumalanga. More details to follow. pic.twitter.com/KSzIL0xkl3
— SABC News (@SABCNews) May 16, 2026
