SA link in Zimbabwe rhino poaching

The claim comes in the midst of denials that Charles Davy, the father of Prince Harry's former girlfriend Chelsy, was linked to a poaching syndicate that allegedly involved two Zimbabwean Ministers. 'South Africans have been involved in poaching for quite some time in Zimbabwe,' said David Newton, head of Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network, this week. 'It is not just rhino poaching, but also generalised poaching. They are taking advantage of a collapsed system there'. Musa Zondi, spokesperson for the SAPS organised crime unit, said the police were working with Zimbabwean authorities to smash the syndicates. The report quotes Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), who said that the ZCTF was preparing a report, comprising undercover investigations, about the high levels of rhino poaching for presentation to Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. The report, said Rodrigues, would identify the members of the rhino poaching syndicates, including prominent Zimbabweans, Chinese nationals and several South Africans. Full report in The Sunday Independent (subscription needed)