Alleged Rhino Kingpin Faces Court… and Jamie Joseph, Anti-Poaching Campaigner

Today could be a big day for the rhino in KwaZulu-Natal… and for one of the rhino’s greatest allies, Jamie Joseph. Today is the day that alleged rhino kingpin of Zululand, Dumisani Gwala, is due to appear in court. And this time anti-poaching supporters are praying the case is not delayed again.

Rhino kingpins have a way of not being jailed in South Africa… but Jamie, founder of Saving the Wild, has been working tirelessly to ensure that this time is different.

It’s meant that she’s put her own life on the line, endangering herself while trying to rescue the endangered rhino from poachers and a court system that is allegedly corrupt.

As reported by New Zealand TV show ‘Seven Sharp’, Jamie “gave up her safe life in New Zealand to head back to her homeland South Africa to help save the rhino.” (Watch here.)

Jamie has been working on the poaching crisis since 2014 when she felt compelled to return to SA to fight for the rhino, after watching a TedX talk in Auckland about the rhino facing extinction.

This morning she heads to the courthouse where, she says, Gwala is standing trial for “attempted murder and dealing in rhino horn. He is currently out on bail for R10,000 (US$718) and it is now long overdue that justice is done.”

The last time Jamie went head to head with Gwala was during his September court appearance when he tried to spit on her. He also allegedly picked up a rock and waited in the courthouse for her to leave.

She says “whatever happens, one thing I am certain of is that a revolution is brewing…”