American National Derek Lewitton Arrested After Found With 26 Unreported Rhino Carcasses And Horn In Gravellote

December 27, 2023

American national Derek Lewitton was arrested by the Hawks following the unearthing of 26 unreported rhino carcasses on his game farm near Gravelotte outside Phalaborwa.

The arrest, which occurred shortly before midnight last Friday, came as the culmination of a 16-hour intensive investigation at the Harmony game farm.

Upon their investigation, the Hawks uncovered 10 unmarked rhino horns stashed away in a safe within the main farmhouse. These horns lacked the crucial documentation required by law, further implicating Lewitton in the illegal trade of rhino horns. Limpopo police spokesperson, Brigadier Hulani Mashaba, confirmed these findings, thereby consolidating the case against Lewitton.

This incident throws a harsh spotlight on the serious issue of illegal rhino horn trading, a contentious and fiercely debated subject globally. Lewitton, a controversial figure in this arena, has now become a symbol of the dark underbelly of this trade.

The arrest was part of a larger, multi-disciplinary crime-fighting operation in South Africa that resulted in the arrest of more than 835 suspects for various serious crimes, including rhino poaching.

The operation, involving multiple law enforcement agencies, led to a significant decline in various categories of crime and the confiscation of illegal items, drugs, and endangered species. The arrested individuals are set to face court appearances in due course.

The arrest of Lewitton and the subsequent findings on his game farm serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for increased vigilance and stricter regulations to preserve our endangered species and uphold the law.

To me, it should be the death penalty unless he shares extremely valuable information. He has it.

He’ll die of old age before the case ever gets to trial. To the best of my knowledge, the Groenwald poaching ring hasn’t been adjudicated and that’s been over 10 years ago…

The way I see it, it is HIS game farm, and he should be allowed to sell what he breeds, like all game farmers.

Bowing to stupid, senseless emotions of the idiots in the West shouldn’t be used to stop rhino farming.

Legalize the trade of horns and tusks and this goes away....

Commercial horn and tusk farming/recovery makes this somewhat regulated and allows access to various funding from NGO's, farming/ranching advocates and governments....

South Africa was and is at the forefront of conservation of many species. Are they perfect, no, are they trying - yes. The USA and Europe have eradicated more species than all of Africa.

Give the animal legal value, and it stays...

It has been widely written that the removal of horns is quite routine on the farms. So the burden will be on proving an illegal attempt to market them. Does anyone know what "crucial documentation" involves?

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
The way I see it, it is HIS game farm, and he should be allowed to sell what he breeds, like all game farmers.

Bowing to stupid, senseless emotions of the idiots in the West shouldn’t be used to stop rhino farming.

Exactly Saeed.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Legalize the trade of horns and tusks and this goes away....

Commercial horn and tusk farming/recovery makes this somewhat regulated and allows access to various funding from NGO's, farming/ranching advocates and governments....

South Africa was and is at the forefront of conservation of many species. Are they perfect, no, are they trying - yes. The USA and Europe have eradicated more species than all of Africa.

Give the animal legal value, and it stays...

+1

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Legalize the trade of horns and tusks and this goes away....

Commercial horn and tusk farming/recovery makes this somewhat regulated and allows access to various funding from NGO's, farming/ranching advocates and governments....

South Africa was and is at the forefront of conservation of many species. Are they perfect, no, are they trying - yes. The USA and Europe have eradicated more species than all of Africa.

Give the animal legal value, and it stays...

+1

Not only stays, but proliferates.

quote:

Originally posted by crane:
It has been widely written that the removal of horns is quite routine on the farms. So the burden will be on proving an illegal attempt to market them. Does anyone know what "crucial documentation" involves?

Darting and de-horning is one thing, killing the animal and burying the carcass (corpse for some) smells of foul play.

I'm unclear on how one "poaches" their own livestock...

quote:

Originally posted by Jefffive:
I'm unclear on how one "poaches" their own livestock...

True.

If you think this is unbelievable, look up a report today a French creature marrying.

HIMSELF!

Poaching typically is the illegal killing of a game animal.

I presume that rhino being so heavily protected, the government has all kinds of reporting that the owners are required to do.

The way this is reported, it sure looks like the guy is trying to evade government surveillance of the rhinos to make it easier for him to illegally sell rhino product.

While I certainly agree that rhino farmers should be allowed to profit from their actions, I can also see why monitoring is necessary to protect the wild rhinos.

Corruption being how there is an intersection between legal farming sales and poaching of rhino resulting in extinction concerns.

'Slaughterhouse' of rhinos found in animal activist's ranch

December 30, 2023

An American rhino trade activist has been arrested after a police raid found 26 dead rhinos rotting at his ranch, along with 10 illegal horns in his safe.

The South African police chief in charge of the raid at Harmony reserve in the Limpopo Province said the scene looked like a ‘slaughterhouse’.

A police unit ‘The Hawks’ went to the ranch by helicopter, while over a dozen vehicles descended on the location after receiving a tip-off that illegal weapons and rhino horns were there.

Multi-millionaire owner Derek Lewitton, 53, is being held in custody.

The father-of-four moved from the US to Johannesburg after getting a BA at the University of Texas and graduating as a Doctor in Law at Stanford University in California.

He moved into conservation after leaving his prior jobs but has remained a controversial and outspoken figure in South Africa concerning legalizing the sale of rhino horns.

Mr. Lewitton and his wife Xenja believe that if a rhino’s horn was removed and sold each time it grew back it would save rhinos from being brutally poached.
But this weekend, the raid found 26 unreported rhino bodies at his ranch after spending 16 hours collecting evidence.

Mr. Lewitton has been charged with breaking the Firearms Act, the National Biodiversity Act of 2004, and the Nemba Act involving restricted activities with specimens of rhino horns.

Limpopo Police Spokesman Brigadier Hulani Mashaba said: ‘Some 26 unreported rhino carcasses were found on the property along with 10 rhino horns in the farmhouse safe.

‘Seven unlawfully acquired firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were also confiscated in a raid with the Hawks and armed officers and tactical response officers.’

Major-General Jan Scheepers added: ‘From the helicopter, the place looked like a slaughterhouse and everywhere you looked rhinos were lying there dead.

‘We found 26 carcasses but I can tell you there is bound to be many more. Some had been shot dead and some died of natural causes and we are still investigating how they died.’

Whenever a rhino dies, it must be reported to the South African Police and Department of Nature Conservation, who then remove the horn.

Out of the 17 horns found on the ranch, only 7 were correctly documented and 10 were not.

Magistrates have denied Mr. Lewitton bail until a hearing on January 3.

Roughly half of South Africa’s rhino population of 4000 black rhinos and 16,000 white rhinos live on private reserves where keeping them safe costs owners millions of pounds a year.

Mr. Lewitton previously said: ‘The families that do this vital work are running out of money. Without legal trade in rhino horn, it is very difficult to fund the conservation of the rhinos.

‘By dehorning animals safely a well-regulated trade in ethical horns to the Far East would help fund the sanctuaries and drive prices down and make poaching less attractive.’

In the first half of 2023, some 231 rhinos were killed for their horns, and in 10 years that figure is over 7000 although modern technology is helping the fight against poaching.

This just came in from South Africa. It will interesting to see what happens. ~ Alan


Press Release:

Derek Lewitton

Arrest Made in South Africa for Rhino-Related Wildlife and
Firearms Offenses

On 27 December 2023, a story straight out of Hollywood was picked up by the newspapers of South
Africa. It quickly spread to newsrooms around the world. The salacious rumours which are currently
circulating the press are wholly unsubstantiated and serve only to undermine the interests of justice.

Allegations that the bush was littered with unreported carcasses, or that horns were hacked out of
skulls and packed for shipping are demonstrably false, and if such statements had any veracity, Mr
Lewitton would surely have been charged with those offences. He has not. That Mr Lewitton’s
reserve has been violently assaulted by poachers for months is not in dispute, but it is a tragedy that
the police have opted to pursue the victim of a crime with more vigour than the true perpetrators.

Much has been said of the offences for which Mr Lewitton stands accused. In some instances,
journalists have claimed Mr Lewitton was charged in terms of the National Environmental
Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) Act 10 of 2004, in others they proffer blank statements that
he has been charged with wildlife trafficking or associated offences. This is incorrect. Mr Lewitton
has been charged with possession of “unlicensed” firearms which were both licensed and could not
have been in his possession owing to him being several hundred kilometres away at the time. The
weapons are owned by STAR Security. At the time of the raid, they were legally held in a safe owned
by the company under their license. The police have attended STAR Security's premises for an
inspection and are satisfied that the weapons were properly licensed. In any event, the arms in
question are of a type used for security and are not chambered in a calibre capable of killing a rhino.

Mr Lewitton has also been charged in terms of the Limpopo Environmental Management Act with 10
counts of possession of rhino horn without a permit. All of these horns were reported to the
Limpopo Economic Development Environment & Tourism Department (LEDET).

The reserve, now secured by two independent security companies, has lost as many as 8 rhinos since
Mr Lewitton was detained. The experienced officers of these two companies have remarked that
they found no evidence of the supposed “slaughterhouse” described by senior police officers.

In the summer of 2022, a delegation from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)
visited four white rhino Conservation Breeding Operations (CBOs), including Black Rock Rhino
Conservation operated by Derek Lewitton. The delegation reported that despite the immense
financial and personal costs incurred in protecting the species, the practices they observed at these
facilities constituted the “gold standard for rhino conservation” and that these reserves were all on
the brink of financial ruin due to the government’s failure to issue certificates authorising legal
international trade in sustainably harvested rhino horn harmlessly trimmed from live animals.

On 22 December 2023, the police raided the reserve and detained Mr Lewitton. The State would
now have us believe that Mr Lewitton is both a multi-millionaire heartless criminal kingpin
slaughtering protected species for personal gain, and simultaneously one of the foremost rhino
conservationists in the world who, is being financially suffocated by the burden of safeguarding his
animals against the onslaught of poachers. Both cannot be true, and only one is substantiated with
any evidence.

That Mr Lewitton has dedicated what remains of his life to rhino conservation is no secret, and it has
made him a target of those who benefit from perpetuating the slaughter of South Africa’s wildlife.

Mr Lewitton, who served as a legal advisor to two CITES Secretary Generals, and as a Special Envoy
on behalf of the Honourable Minister Pohemba Shifeta of Namibia’s Ministry of Environment
Forestry and Tourism, has contributed immensely to several conservation legal battles in which
South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment (DFFE) and it’s Minister, Barbara
Creecy, was found to be at fault. Mr Lewitton was also providing expert testimony in support of
ongoing litigation against Minister Creecy over her apparent obstruction of the use of CITES
conservation breeding exemptions to facilitate a legal and sustainable trade in rhino horn supported
by her own scientific authority as the key to solving the poaching crisis.

“The evidence suggests that a legal well-regulated trade in rhino horn is key to solving the rhino
poaching crisis. This is the majority view in the scientific literature and is certainly the view of most
experienced conservation practitioners. The three resource/wildlife economists that SANBI
collaborates with also support this view. ”

- Michelle Pfab, Scientific Co-ordinator of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI),
the South African CITES Scientific Authority and Scientific Advisor to South Africa’s Minister for
Environment

More recently, Mr Lewitton has supported private investigative efforts into a vast quantity of rhino
horn which is reportedly missing from the government’s own vault in Skukuza. His work and the
testimony of security officers involved with the administration of the vault, indicated that as much as
50 metric tonnes of horn with a street value in excess of $1bn USD had disappeared without
explanation since 2016.

With one of the most dedicated anti-corruption stalwarts in this space now behind bars and
poaching pressure increasing on his land, we must ask ourselves who stands to gain from his
detention and the apparent campaign to malign him in the press.

Author:

James Brackenbury is a UK based Risk & Compliance Consultant with a decade of intelligence and
investigations experience. His pro-bono work has enabled law enforcement operations combatting
the illicit wildlife trade in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and provided expert policy and legal advisory
services to community conservation initiatives, government agencies, and in-situ conservation
breeding operations including Black Rock Rhino Conservation.

He can be reached at: jbrackenburyw1ld@gmail.com

That last article could maybe make it appear that someone is being framed.......


.

The West is dictating their stupid, ignorant ideas on the rest of the world!

Someone should tell them to FUCK OFF!

Under South African Law you technically cannot own game ( Res Nullia principle) The game belongs to the "people" and the government ( game department) exercises curatorship of the game on behalf of the "people". The game department can, when certain provisions are met, transfer that curatorship to the owner of land on which the game resides and it then becomes a commodity. However, and this is important, still subject to the provisions as laid out by your permit that grants you that curatorship. So while you may trade in game or allow people to hunt your game all is subject to rules of the law. In simple terms the only way game actually truly becomes your property is when it has been legally hunted.

Rancher out on R100,000 bail after ‘26 unreported rhino carcasses’, horns found on Limpopo farm

10 Jan 2024

Derek Lewitton, a long-standing advocate for legalizing international trade in rhino horn, was granted bail by a local magistrates’ court on Wednesday, 10 January. Private rhino owners, argues a major sector association, are desperate to salvage their livelihood amid a tanking industry.

Accused of possessing 17 rhino horns along with 16 “unlawful firearms” and ammunition, Derek Lewitton, a local rancher, has been granted release on R100,000 bail by the Namakgale Magistrates’ Court in Phalaborwa, Limpopo.

The Limpopo rhino rancher, a prominent figure in the private sector, had appeared in court near Kruger National Park for a formal bail application.

Citing a need to verify Lewitton’s residential address, marital status, and citizenship, the State had previously requested a remand to keep him in custody.

On Wednesday, 10 January, however, the court granted the accused bail, stating that his details had been confirmed and reporting no further grounds for opposal.

According to a police statement, Lewitton was arrested on 22 December after a 16-hour investigation at a game farm near the small town of Gravelotte, where law enforcement said they had found “26 unreported rhino carcasses”.

The high-level operation, conducted west of Kruger, was overseen by Major-General Jan Scheepers, Limpopo’s deputy provincial commissioner.

Launched after a tip-off by “a reliable source”, the sting was executed by a multidisciplinary task force comprising members of the Hawks, the South African Police Service’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation; Visible Policing; the Polokwane Tactical Response Unit; the Firearms Unit and the local Criminal Records Centre.

“An investigation was registered, and a search warrant obtained. The operation commenced around 8 am,” noted Limpopo spokesperson Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba.

‘Dead rhinos everywhere you looked’

Scheepers reported that a helicopter was dispatched to survey the property, uncovering a scene reminiscent of a “slaughterhouse”.

“Everywhere you looked, there were rhinos lying dead,” Scheepers said.

In addition to carcasses, some “unmarked rhino horns” were reportedly discovered in a safe “without paperwork”.

Horns with a value allegedly totaling R10 million were seized by the Hawks while the raid also confiscated “unlawfully acquired firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition”.

Lewitton was taken into police custody shortly before midnight on the same day. His laptop and cell phone were also confiscated.

“The law is very clear,” Scheepers said. “Once you find a rhino in the veld, no matter if it has been killed, or has died of natural causes, you are not allowed to remove the horns. You must report it to the South African police and the Department of Nature Conservation.”

At the time of publishing, it was unclear how many surviving rhinos remained on the property, and if more dead animals had been found.

‘Dedicated, honest and fiercely courageous rangers’

Lewiston’s website, however, claims the rancher and his wife, Xenja, are “responsible for hundreds of rhinos on thousands of acres of wild African land” through Black Rock Rhino Conservation, a ranching business.

“We are very lucky to have a team of dedicated, honest, and fiercely courageous rangers protecting the animals of Black Rock Rhino Conservation,” according to the site.

The site also notes that Lewitton is a former senior executive who holds a law doctorate from Stanford.

The US-educated rancher is well known within the private sector to have fought unsuccessfully for several years to trigger international trade in rhino horn, which is currently banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

We could not reach the Lewitton family for comment.

However, a statement reportedly written by a family representative argues that the rancher was being unfairly persecuted.

“The salacious rumors. which are currently circulating the press are wholly unsubstantiated and serve only to undermine the interests of justice,” the statement says. “Allegations that the bush was littered with unreported carcasses, or that horns were hacked out of skulls and packed for shipping are demonstrably false, and if such statements had any veracity, Mr Lewitton would surely have been charged with those offenses. He has not.”

The statement claims that “Mr.. Lewitton’s reserve has been violently assaulted by poachers for months … but it is a tragedy that the police have opted to pursue the victim of a crime with more vigor than the true perpetrators.”

Despite attempts, Daily Maverick could not verify the authenticity of the statement, which goes on to suggest that “as many as eight rhinos” had been poached since Lewitton’s detention.

Private sector ‘heroes’

Since the start of the rhino poaching crisis in about 2007, more than 10,000 rhinos have been slaughtered for their horns in South Africa. With Kruger National Park and adjacent reserves recently dehorning rhinos, illegal demand for horns now appears to have shifted to other reserves and targets.

For instance, in the first quarter of 2023, South African environmental authorities reported that the epicenter of the bloodbath was now in KwaZulu-Natal, where 60% of poaching casualties for the period had been claimed. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, which had not dehorned any animals, was among reserves in the province bearing the brunt of that shift.

Pelham Jones, director of the Private Rhino Owners Association, told Daily Maverick that Lewitton was not a member of the association and declined to comment on the charges brought against him.

Jones, however, pointed out that the private sector remained under great stress — a situation echoed by the landmark 2023 sale of rhino rancher John Hume’s 2,000-strong herd to African Parks, which has earmarked the animals for rewilding over the next decade.

Hume’s attempt to auction off his rhinos in April 2023 attracted zero bids.

Financial ‘distress, desperation’

“Rhino owners are financially extremely distressed,” said Jones. “We own over 8,000 rhinos of the national herd of some 13,000 rhinos.”

Jones argued that “the private sector has carried out a heroic act in terms of looking after the species. We are growing our population by some 7.2% to 7.6% year on year — that’s after poaching losses, and we derive zero income through any kind of exploitation.”

Jones said the value of privately owned rhinos had “plummeted”. Security expenses were “astronomical”, costing the national, provincial, and private sectors around R2-billion per annum, he said.

“And so now we’re in a situation of some degree of desperation on certain properties,” he argued.

Jones added: “We certainly would not condone any individual who carries out any act which would be deemed to be unlawful.”

Colin Bell, a South African conservationist and prominent campaigner against legalizing the international horn trade told us that “it was never going to happen, so I am surprised that people like Lewitton decided to invest in horn in the first place. The economics for trade just don’t stack up.”

Bell demurred that the “potential size of the market is way too large if demand was ever stimulated through legalized trade. The amount of rhino horn that South Africa could sustainably supply annually to the market is way too small.”

The conservationist contended that this supply “would not be anywhere near enough to satisfy demand. If trade was ever legalized, the only winners would be the international poaching syndicates and maybe a handful of rhino horn speculators. History has proven that one can never trade the body parts of endangered species in the hope of saving them from extinction.”

Lewitton’s case has been postponed to Thursday, 7 March, according to Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, a National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson. It is scheduled to be heard at the Namakgale Magistrates’ Court.

quote:

Launched after a tip-off by “a reliable source”, the sting was executed by a multidisciplinary task force comprising members of the Hawks, the South African Police Service’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation; Visible Policing; the Polokwane Tactical Response Unit; the Firearms Unit and the local Criminal Records Centre.

WOW!

To investigate a man dealing with his own animals?

Where are those involved in sorting out the rampant crimes in South Africa?

Starting with Johannesburg airport!

The whole thing reeks of fraud, but then that is what we have come to expect in poor old RSA.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
The whole thing reeks of fraud, but then that is what we have come to expect in poor old RSA.

When it comes to rhinos, your country is far behind in corruption!

Banning their import is a death sentence.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
The whole thing reeks of fraud, but then that is what we have come to expect in poor old RSA.

When it comes to rhinos, your country is far behind in corruption!

Banning their import is a death sentence.

The USA hasn't banned the import of sport hunted Rhino.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.z...mpaign=maverick_news


Horns, carcasses found on Limpopo rhino farm overblown and misrepresented, says attorney


By Tiara Walters

14 Jan 2024


A Johannesburg-based firm representing a rhino rancher out on R100,000 bail, who is charged with arms and horn possession, says its client is the victim of an ‘unjust’ campaign. The firm argues the carcasses are the result of outside poaching and natural deaths.


Derek Lewitton, a prominent advocate for legalising the international rhino horn trade, was released on bail by the Namakgale Magistrates’ Court in Limpopo on Wednesday, 10 January.

The rancher is charged with possessing 17 rhino horns, along with 16 “unlawful firearms” and ammunition.

However, Lewitton’s attorney, Maurice Crespi of the Johannesburg firm Schindlers Attorneys, told Daily Maverick that his client was being persecuted.

Lewitton was arrested on Friday, 22 December, following a 16-hour investigation at a game farm near Phalaborwa outside the Kruger National Park, where law enforcement claimed to have found “26 unreported rhino carcasses”.

We have yet to see evidence that 26 rhino carcasses were found. The security company appointed to secure the farm since Mr Lewitton’s arrest has only found a handful.

The operation involved a multidisciplinary task force and led to the seizure of horns valued at R10-million, as well as “unlawfully acquired” firearms “and hundreds of rounds of ammunition”, according to a 27 December statement by the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Not charged with rhino killings

“At the outset, it’s important to note that the charges relate solely to the unlawful possession of firearms and rhino horns. The press release issued by the SAPS on 27 December created an impression that Mr Lewitton was involved in the illicit rhino trade and the killing of his own rhinos,” Crespi says.

“However, in our interactions with the investigating officers and the National Prosecuting Authority [NPA], there has yet to be a suggestion that this is indeed the case.”



Asked why 26 rhino carcasses were reportedly found on the farm and what the cause of death was, Crespi said: “We have yet to see evidence that 26 rhino carcasses were found. The security company appointed to secure the farm since Mr Lewitton’s arrest has only found a handful.”

From a logical standpoint, a farm owner harbouring dubious motives concerning rhino horns would find it more advantageous to maintain the rhinos’ lives…

Pressed to clarify what “a handful” of carcasses would equate to in actual numbers, Crespi said that “shortly after Mr Lewitton’s arrest, during our communication with the security company, they reported finding only four rhino carcasses”.

However, he cites a “high likelihood of more existing”.

“In instances of poaching or natural death, a rhino’s carcass is typically left at the site of demise. Taking into account that a ‘carcass’ includes the bones of a deceased rhino, the actual count could be significantly greater,” Crespi says. “However, we question whether the SAPS were actually referring to carcasses that consisted solely of bones.”

Poaching a ‘regular’ problem on the farm

According to Crespi, “poaching on the farm occurs regularly. The majority of the carcasses found on the farm relate to poaching incidents that have all been reported to the SAPS. The others are deaths by way of natural causes. Our client has case numbers for each poaching incident. The substantial growth in the rhino population on the farm, a direct result of Mr Lewitton’s diligent stewardship, clearly contradicts any allegations of his involvement in the deaths of these animals.”



Additionally, the attorney argues that, “from a logical standpoint, a farm owner harbouring dubious motives concerning rhino horns would find it more advantageous to maintain the rhinos’ lives, opting for periodic horn trimming, rather than resorting to killing them for their horns”.

A Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) statement confirms that Lewitton is facing only horns, arms and ammunition charges.



“Given that the SAPS has found no complaints about any carcasses on the property, it is evident that all poaching incidents, which account for the majority of the carcasses, have been duly reported,” Crespi says. “The insinuations in the press release appear to have been deliberately designed to unjustly accuse Mr Lewitton of being involved in these deaths.”

‘We have submitted all licences’

It is legal to sell rhino horn in South Africa’s domestic market.

Crespi says his client “was in possession of horns in anticipation of their processing by the authorities, which takes place on a monthly or bi-monthly basis, depending on their availability. This practice has been ongoing for years.”

Crespi notes that, with respect to the firearm charges, “we have submitted all licenses as attachments to the affidavit supporting the bail application”.

The Lewittons’ website says that Derek and his wife, Xenja, are “responsible for hundreds of rhino on thousands of acres of wild African land” through Black Rock Rhino Conservation, a ranching business.

Mr Lewitton has clearly made enemies in the wrong places, something he is all too aware of due to his activism directed at preserving South Africa’s rhino population.

Crespi says Lewitton does not own the property, but “is actively pursuing the goal of owning the farm and has secured an option to purchase it. Currently, the farm and its owner benefit from Mr Lewitton’s efforts to minimise the number of rhinos that fall victim to poaching.”

‘More at play here than a mere investigation’

An earlier statement circulated by risk and compliance consultant James Brackenbury on behalf of Lewitton is authentic, according to Crespi, who says the SAPS statement, on the other hand, is “filled with inaccuracies”.

“There is more at play here than a mere investigation and arrest in the ordinary course,” he says.

The US-educated rancher is well known within the private sector to have fought unsuccessfully for several years to trigger international trade in rhino horn, which is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

“Mr Lewitton has clearly made enemies in the wrong places, something he is all too aware of due to his activism directed at preserving South Africa’s rhino population,” Crespi argues.

Despite reports referring to Lewitton as a US national, Crespi says: “Mr Lewitton was born in South Africa and is a South African citizen. On [Wednesday] 3 January, we presented his original birth certificate to the NPA. Despite this, they insisted they needed a week to confirm the authenticity of the document. This unwarranted delay resulted in Mr Lewitton enduring an extra week of incarceration.”

In the SAPS statement, Major-General Jan Scheepers, Limpopo’s deputy provincial commissioner, reported that a helicopter was dispatched to survey the property on 22 December, uncovering a scene reminiscent of a “slaughterhouse”.

“Everywhere you looked, there were rhinos lying dead,” Scheepers said. In addition to carcasses, some “unmarked rhino horns” were reportedly discovered in a safe “without paperwork”. DM

Sounds,more and more like a setup....

Sure hard to square the SAPS statement at the end with the earlier report of 4 total carcasses, all bone, likely poached.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
Sounds,more and more like a setup....

Always is!