Mozambican War Rifles Used in Rhino Poaching

Soviet weapons in the Bushwars was no accident...

military officials have revealed that some of the rifles used to poach rhino in the Kruger National Park date back to the Mozambican civil war...a .458 rifle recovered following a shoot-out with a group of suspected rhino poachers in the Kruger at the weekend was used as a defence weapon during the war between Frelimo and Renamo.

"These guns were supposed to have been surrendered to the government after the war ended, but some people decided to keep them. Some former soldiers are believed to be selling the weapons to make a quick buck," said Mathonsi. He said... .303 man-made rifles from Swaziland were also commonly used for rhino poaching in South Africa. "Guns are circulated on a very fast pace as there is huge demand for the weapons," he said...Rangers were also at risk as they were often "greeted with fire power" without being warned...Altogether, five suspected poachers were killed near the Crocodile Bridge and Pretoriuskop...when rangers returned fire in self-defence. Two surviving poachers escaped into Mozambique...
---Full Report at  BuaNews (Tshwane)---
The prevailing attitude with African governments is that the people cannot be trusted with arms not under their control (which should be of no shock since most of these leaders were groomed by cold-war communist ideology and vary only by degree how totalitarian they are, from Mugabe's North Korean style Hitler cult to S.Africa's USSR style soft-tyranny for example). Notice the quote from Captain Mathonsi: "Guns are circulated on a very fast pace as there is huge demand for the weapons". Common sense indicates not all those wanting firearms are criminals, poachers & terrorists...Self-Defense against these elements by ordinary folk is denied legally, therefore the underground economy is the only resort, the governments are De Facto "creating criminals" where there are none, and the meddling stink of U.N. anti-gun policies only add to the problem. Freedom for Africans (of all ethnic variations) still remains elusive...Shades of the anti-gun mindset and policies in the USA, UK, & other former colonials...(S9)