ANA reports that Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said on Saturday that the murder of a Kruger National Park (KNP) game ranger by alleged rhino poachers showed the severity of the threat rangers faced on a daily basis.  

She was joined by SA National Parks (SANParks) CEO Fundisile Mketeni and other SANParks officials and the local community in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, to pay homage to field ranger Respect Mathebula, who was killed in a shoot-out with poachers on 19 July.  Molewa said the working environment of field rangers in SA had changed since rhino poaching started to increase 10 years ago.  “The murder of one of our rangers is an act of aggression by unscrupulous individuals and gangs.  His death at the hands of alleged rhino poachers is an indication of the severity of the threat our rangers are faced with on a daily basis,” Molewa said.  Mathebula was the first ranger to be killed by poachers in the Kruger National Park in more than 50 years.

• Read this report in full at The Citizen
• See too, More than 200 rangers killed in six years, says International Ranger Federation, at The Citizen

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