{"id":30380,"date":"2016-11-18T00:52:49","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T00:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/s-africa-probes-david-mahlobo-links-to-rhino\/"},"modified":"2016-11-18T00:52:45","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T00:52:45","slug":"s-africa-probes-david-mahlobo-links-to-rhino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/s-africa-probes-david-mahlobo-links-to-rhino\/","title":{"rendered":"S Africa probes David Mahlobo links to rhino smuggling"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Police launch investigation after Al Jazeera report raises serious questions about South African security chief.}<\/p>\n

South African police have launched an investigation into alleged links between the country’s security minister and a Chinese rhino horn smuggler, according to the government.<\/p>\n

The probe announced on Thursday was prompted by claims made by Guan Jiang Guang, a self-professed rhino horn trader, in an undercover Al Jazeera documentary, that he was close to State Security Minister David Mahlobo.<\/p>\n

“Cabinet noted the allegations in an Al Jazeera documentary against Minister of State Security, Mr David Mahlobo,” Jeff Radebe, a senior adviser to President Jacob Zuma, told journalists.<\/p>\n

“The South African Police Services are investigating the allegations.”<\/p>\n

A bloody gift in the shape of a souvenir: Rhino horn<\/p>\n

Guang said that he was friends with Mahlobo and had hosted him regularly at his massage parlour in Nelspruit in Mpumalanga province and at his home.<\/p>\n

In secretly filmed footage, Guang showed off mobile phone pictures of himself and the minister, and said the minister’s wife was involved in the trade.<\/p>\n

Pictures have also emerged of Mahlobo with parlour employees.<\/p>\n

Mohlobo has denied any relationship with the businessman.<\/p>\n

Selling rhino horn is illegal worldwide, but the animals face the threat of extinction due to a surge of poaching driven by demand for their horn in China and Vietnam.<\/p>\n

The Al Jazeera investigation revealed that smugglers used packets of long strips of dried meat, known locally as biltong, to conceal shipment of ivory.<\/p>\n

{{Mahlobo’s denial}}<\/p>\n

South Africa’s elite police unit, the Hawks, confirmed investigations were under way into the alleged links between Mahlobo and Guang.<\/p>\n

“What we need to do is to get a statement from him [Mahlobo],” special police unit spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi told AFP news agency on Thursday.<\/p>\n

“The allegations have been made … they are talking about him, they are talking about his wife.”<\/p>\n

Mahlobo this week denied all accusations of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

“I am not a friend of the guy, nor have I been ever to his home,” he said in a statement. “My wife has no business relationship with the man or his employees.”<\/p>\n

Mahlobo added that he had visited Guang’s massage spa for treatment but had “no idea” that Guang was involved in illegal rhino trade.<\/p>\n

In 2008, fewer than 100 rhino were poached in South Africa, but in recent years numbers have rocketed – with nearly 1,200 killed last year alone.<\/p>\n

South Africa is home to about 20,000 rhinos, roughly 80 percent of the worldwide population.<\/p>\n

Rhino horn is composed mainly of keratin, the same substance as in human nails.<\/p>\n

It is sold in powdered form as a supposed cure for cancer and other diseases – as well as an aphrodisiac – in Vietnam and China.<\/p>\n

\"Mahlobo<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Police launch investigation after Al Jazeera report raises serious questions about South African security chief.} South African police have launched an investigation into alleged links between the country’s security minister and a Chinese rhino horn smuggler, according to the government. The probe announced on Thursday was prompted by claims made by Guan Jiang Guang, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[100],"byline":[2474],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-30380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","byline-al-jazeera"],"bylines":[{"id":2474,"name":"AL JAZEERA","slug":"al-jazeera","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2474,"name":"AL JAZEERA","slug":"al-jazeera","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30380\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30380"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=30380"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=30380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}