About Us

Paul Jennings

Paul Jennings was born in Zimbabwe and moved to South Africa in 1982, where he matriculated in 1988. He subsequently enrolled at Pretoria Technikon and obtained a National Diploma in Nature Conservation.

Having worked for the Natal Parks Board for a number of years as a student, he spent his early days patrolling the Eastern Shores of the Isimangaliso St Lucia Wetland Park, where he focused predominantly on Black Rhino monitoring, anti-poaching and leading wilderness trails. Later Paul moved across to Ithala Game Reserve, where as a member of the Anti Poaching Unit he spent many hours monitoring Rhino in their natural habitat. From Ithala, Paul transferred to Umkhuze Game Reserve to lead their famous Bushveld trails, before moving back into the anti-poaching field.

Wanting to expand his horizons, he moved to Beachwood Mangroves and the Durban North Conservation zone.

Having spent almost a year a there, a vacancy arose within the world-renowned Game Capture Unit, as the Rhino Capture officer in charge. He jumped at the opportunity and spent the next 7 years travelling around the Province, and the Country, capturing and delivering Rhino and other game species for relocation. During this time, Paul became acutely aware of the plight of some of his charges –in particular how many of these Rhino were being killed for their horns. The methods used are often exceptionally cruel and the animals suffer immense pain before dying of their wounds.

Having witnessed the slaughter first-hand, Paul decided early this year that something had to be done. “The world has to be educated about the plight of the rhino and how important it is for mankind to be a part of conservation efforts to save these beautiful animals,” says Paul.

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Sboniso Phakathi was born in rural Kwazulu- Natal in 1988. In the early years of his life he moved in with his grandmother in Scottsville, where he attended school. In 2006 Sboniso matriculated from Martizburg College, and travelled for two years.

Sboniso Phakathi (Spoon)

He worked on for a private establishment in the Seychelles and later delivered yachts in Europe. Upon his return to South Africa in 2008, he started working for a company in Hoedspruit called Protrack. He worked in their anti-poaching unit, based on Manyeleti reserve and slept in the bush while on 16-day antipoaching patrols. In 2009 he took over Protrack’s public relations endeavours; writing articles and press releases for the company.

In 2010 he enrolled at UNISA to start a BA degree in Political Leadership while continuing his public relations work with Protrack.

In early 2010, after Sboniso and his Protrack colleagues became acutely aware of the sudden and rampant increase in Rhino poaching, they formed the ‘Hoedspruit rhino watch.’ The unit’s main role is to carry out as many presence and visible patrols as it can.

Early in 2011, Sboniso attended his first rhino autopsy on a farm in the area. The heart-wrenching sight made him realize that he wants to reach as many people as possible to make them understand how pointless rhino killings are – and how many Rhinos are still paying the price. He also expressed his wish to actively engage with young people on the issue: “We need to get more youth involved in raising awareness about what’s happening to our common heritage,” he said.