RHINO KILLER on remand!

In a staggering blow, on the 7th of October, the case/trial of Dawie Groenewald and *five* other accused was remanded to February 2026! (* vets Karel Toet and Manie du Plessis, two professional hunters and a pilot)

Groenewald was arrested in 2010 in a raid during which various horrific illegal activities were exposed. Groenewald had been selling "Black Market" Trophy Hunts on his farm Prachtig, illegally dehorning Rhinos without permits and selling and moving Rhinos without permits.

During this arrest on the farm Prachtig, 20 Rhino carcasses were found along with Elephant tusks, Leopard skulls, and skins!

Groenewald was released and was out on bail for over ten years. In July 2021 he was arrested by authorities with accomplice AB Steyn in Nelspruit/Mbombela. The pair were caught with 19 Rhino horns which had the identification numbers filed off!

Back in 2010, Groenewald had over 1800 charges against him, later these were amended to 1600. It is not clear what happened to the trial date of the 2021 case or whether these charges are now included in the amended 1600 charges!

The case was transferred in 2023 from Pretoria High Court to the Limpopo High Court and the dates for trial were set to start 7 October through to November.

Over four State Prosecutors have been appointed.

Interesting facts:

On September 17th and 18th 2011, Mapungubwe National Park Rangers spotted a helicopter - registration ZS-HBH,- conducting illegal low-flying manoeuvres. The pilot Johannes Stone was fined R2000.00.. The helicopter was owned by Sariette and Dawie Groenewald.

Prof Hunter Nardus Rossouw was released on bail twice. He was out on bail from the Groenewald case and was caught in October 2017 in possession of 11 Rhino horns.

Johan Kruger father of the infamous Phillip Kruger of Chattatronga Safaris conducted "Rhino business" with Groenewald purchasing 18 Rhinos for his farm Concordia. Dr Karel Toet and his wife Mariza Toet handled transport...

We can only imagine the real number of Rhinos and other Wildlife that have been brutally slaughtered and the dark sticky web this syndicate has spun.

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Seems to me that Dawie is a former ranking police officer so he probably knows the system. And certainly there are some bribes being being paid.

Damn, 14 years since initial arrest and now the case is pushed back 2 more years. He’ll die of old age before the whole thing is dropped. African justice at it’s best…I seem to recall that he was a darling of SCI auctions before the house of cards collapsed…

I hope they are digging the cell under the jail to prepare for his arrival.

A friend just said if he had killed any of his rhinos he would long been consumed by worms

Rhino horn trade case delayed again 12 years after arrest of suspects


Pretoria - The most delayed criminal trial in the country – of an alleged syndicate said to be illegally trading in rhino horn – was yesterday once again postponed, this time to January 16 next year.

Limpopo game farmer Dawie Groenewald and his co-accused were arrested about 12 years ago on a multitude of rhino poaching-related charges, yet their criminal trial has yet to start.

Groenewald and his eight co-accused once again briefly appeared in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, yesterday, where their trial was postponed to next year.

Yesterday’s appearance was not for a trial but was for case management by Judge Hennie de Vos. He was told that some of the accused would later this year issue another constitutional challenge against the charges they were facing. The criminal trial would thus not be able to start until another court had ruled on the constitutionality of these charges.

Judge Bert Bam, who has since returned, last year made it clear that he wanted answers as to why the trial had been delayed for so long.

“This case has been dragging its heels for very long. I want to know what the delays are and what is going to be done to streamline the process,” the judge said.

However, in light of the constitutional challenge, and although the prosecution has all along made clear that it is ready to proceed, the trial will not be able to resume, Judge de Vos, who has taken over the trial, was told.

Groenewald, alleged to be the rhino horn syndicate kingpin, and his co-accused, who include a helicopter pilot, two veterinarians, and professional hunters, have appeared in court on several occasions over the years, during which their trial was postponed.

One of the delays was caused as the group was awaiting a Constitutional Court ruling confirming the lifting of South Africa’s moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn.

This resulted in the state dropping about 60 charges against the accused, and an amended charge sheet was subsequently served on the group. The group now hopes that their renewed challenge against the charges will result in more or all of the charges being dropped.

They are, however, at this stage still facing about 1,600 charges, ranging from racketeering, money laundering, and the illegal hunting of rhinos, to dealing in rhino horn.

None of the accused has yet pleaded to any of the charges. The court was earlier told that once the trial resumed, it was expected to last about a year.