Wildlife ranger Rodney Landela, 45 – once hailed as the ‘crown prince of the kruger’ and tipped to become its first Black head ranger – has been jailed for 10 years
Star wildlife Ranger Rodney Landela – once set to become the first Black head of South Africa’s most prestigious safari park has been jailed for 10 years – for rhino poaching. Shamed Landela’s huge betrayal of trust and spectacular fall from grace rocked the 630 rangers who risk their lives every day hunting evil poachers in the Kruger National Park.
Landela, 45, was affectionately known as the “Crown Prince of the Kruger” as it became clear he was being lined up to become for the first Black Head Ranger of the iconic park.
All 6 Head Rangers who had gone before his arrest that shocked the entire safari park and wildlife community in South Africa since the Kruger was created in 1926 were white.
But his arrest in 2016 torpedoed his shoe-in to the prized position and instead in 2021 the Kruger appointed Cathy Dreyer, 48, as both their first female and first Black Head Ranger. She replaced retiring Ken Maggs taking up the position being lined up for Landela until he was caught red handed shooting a rhino he was supposed to protect and dehorning it.
Instead of him taking that prestigious honour he will be locked up in a tough South African prison with dozens of poachers he and his rangers put behind bars and seeking revenge. The first Head Ranger was decorated British Army officer and Boer War hero Major James Stevenson-Hamilton who banned all hunting in the Kruger and declared war on poachers.
Shamed Landela was set to continue the pioneering work of Major Stevenson-Hamilton who is still recognised even today as the Champion of South African wildlife conservation. But his destiny came crashing down when he and a senior Kruger state vet were caught after shooting dead a rhino he had sworn to protect to sell its horn to make a profit.
The price per ounce of rhino horn in the Far East is higher than that of gold or cocaine. At Skukuza Regional Court – where Landela sent countless arrested poachers to face justice during his glittering 15-year career – he stood in the very same dock to be jailed. Prosecutor Mr Lot Mgiba told the court how in July 2016 a patrolling KNP ranger heard three gun shots ring out in the bush and fired up his 4 x 4 and raced towards the gunfire.
Ranger Lucky Ndlovu saw two running men jump into a white Toyota Hilux station wagon and flee the scene in a cloud of dust and radioed in his fellow rangers and air support. A KNP chopper on patrol landed in the road in front of the Toyota and with the 4 x 4 following up from behind they stopped it and ordered the occupants out at gunpoint.
Ranger Ndlovu was stunned to see his highly respected boss Landela climb out of the suspect fleeing vehicle along with Kruger State wildlife vet Kenneth Mochocho, 52. Landela claimed he was in the Kingfisherspruit area when he heard the gunshots and was trying to find a place to get phone signal so that he could report a poaching incident.
He ordered vet Mochocho to drive off alone while he waited in a ranger’s vehicle to “find a signal” to report the incident despite KNP rangers already being fully aware of it. When Mochocho returned a short while later a suspicious ranger followed his route and found where he had done a u-turn and stopped and followed his tracks into the bush.
He found a backpack with a rhino horn inside along with Landela’s high powered .375 CZ Magnum hunting rifle, three spent .375 cartridges and an axe with rhino blood on it. DNA taken from bloodstains on Landela’s clothes and an axe and from the vet’s vehicle and on his jacket linked both of them to the shooting of the endangered white rhino.
Both were arrested and have been on bail for 10 years as the case bafflingly dragged on with constant court adjournments whilst similar poaching cases are quickly concluded. The pair were brought before a KNP disciplinary hearing and found guilty and sacked then given their freedom for a decade whilst on £850 bail and surrendering their passports.
Landela had claimed he was framed and was out searching for hunting dogs and said he had locked his hunting rifle in his safe the night before and someone must have “stolen it”. However rangers testified they saw two men running away from the dehorned rhino to Mochocho’s vehicle and GPS evidence showed it parked near the corpse for 25 minutes.
When trackers went back to the scene where the Toyota Hilux had been seen by Ranger Ndlovu they followed a trail which led them to the freshly shot and dehorned rhino. And ballistic tests on Landela’s Safari Magnum .375 hunting rifle proved it fired the bullets.
A financial expert also told the court Landela – who earned R19000 (£870) a month – had R1m (£46,000) in his bank deposited between 2013 and 2016 he could not account for. That included a payment of R85,000 (£3900) in a single day that he could not explain.
Previously in court Dr Xolani Funda, South African National Parks (SANParks) head of integrity, said that Regional Ranger Landela was held in “extremely high esteem”. He said: “He was considered the “Crown Prince” and the likely candidate to become Head Ranger.
“There was no bad blood between us and I wanted him to be Head Ranger”. Regional Magistrate Mbogeni Ngobeni had dismissed the culprits’ not guilty pleas and convicted both and said the State had proved its case beyond all doubt that they killed the rhino.
Both guilty men stood heads bowed and shamed in the dock for sentence on two counts each of killing an endangered rhino and carrying a firearm with intent to commit crime. The magistrate said Landela was privy as a senior ranger to extremely sensitive information which could benefit poachers and said both men had abused their position of trust.
Despite their position of trust both got the 10-year minimum sentence for killing a rhino and four years for using a firearm to run concurrently and the magistrates ordered no parole. Lawyers for both men said they intended to appeal the judgement.
The Mpumalanga Asset Forfeiture Unit also submitted an application to investigate the possibility of confiscating any unexplained assets belonging to Landela and Mochocho. Senior KNP colleagues of the disgraced Regional Manager are now asking how deeply involved Landela was with the deadly poaching gangs and how much he pocketed.
A senior ranger with over 20 years of experience, speaking anonymously for fear of losing his job, said: “There could not have been a person in a better position to be recruited. His inside information was priceless to a syndicate as he knew all the details of the anti-poaching operations that were being planned and ongoing deployments of the rangers.
“All due to greed”
“He also knew exactly where the rhino herds were and in his position of power could move weapons and poached horns in and out of the Kruger because he was above suspicion. Hundreds of rangers trusted him every day and he knew all their deployments every day so he would know what areas of the park were safe and which weren’t for the poachers.
“Landela showed all these rangers that if they worked hard they could also work their way to the top and he was about to get the crown but instead let down South Africa. He was to be the first Black Head Ranger but blew it all due to greed.”
South African National Parks (SANParks) ex-boss Mr Fundisile Mketeni said at the time: “It is indeed sad and terrible to hear one of our own has been arrested for rhino-poaching. These were the men who are tasked and trusted with leading the anti-poaching operations in the Park but we do however applaud the courage of those rangers who arrested them.
“They were in a very difficult position as he was their superior but did their duty” he said. In the last 10 years some 40 KNP game rangers have been arrested and sentenced for rhino poaching with others still awaiting trial tempted by the huge cash profits to be made.
Landela was highly regarded by the Game Rangers Association of Africa of which he was a member and CEO Andrew Campbell said after his arrest: “The man is a total disgrace. He was poaching the very animals he had a duty to protect whilst heading for the very top but ultimately he betrayed us all and he lost the ranger’s key value which is integrity”
Landela on his arrest was immediately booted out of the GRAA in disgrace. It is well known to police that ruthless poaching gangs prey on the rangers who earn £17.50 to £25 a day offering them up to a year’s salary in cash in return for rhino herd locations.
Abusing trust
If that does not work they often threaten to kill or hurt the ranger’s family who usually live in local villages outside the KNP whereas rangers live inside the fence when working. However it is unheard of someone of Landela’s rank to be caught and convicted of poaching in the Kruger.
A SANParks spokesman said: ”We view this as particularly serious as both individuals were entrusting with protecting South Africa’s wildlife but instead abused their positions of trust. A fine or a non-custodial sentence would not have served the interests of justice particularly given the offences were motivated by greed rather than need.
“The sentence sends a strong message that rhino poaching and the betrayal of public trust by conservation officials will not be tolerated and they will face serious consequences.”