Communities need to expose those behind rhino poaching, Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini said.

"Why don't you tell us? Who are these people who are doing such a horrible thing?" he said at a two-day summit on rhino poaching at the University of Zululand, near Empangeni, in KwaZulu-Natal.

Communities could not say there was no one in their midst who was involved in poaching.

Historically, hunting in the Zulu kingdom was controlled by the king, and this hunting was for the purposes of livelihood and not for profit, he said.

"We beg you to stop this nonsense."

He said the authorities had to bring rural communities into the fight against rhino poaching.

"It hurts me deeply every time I see a report of another rhino killed."

Rhino poachers and those who drove the rhino horn trade needed to be seen as "enemies of Africa".

Earlier, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife CEO Bandile Mkhize said 11 rhino had been killed in the province in the past week.

Since February, 128 rhino had been killed in South Africa, according to environmental affairs department figures quoted on the Wildlife and Environment Society of SA's website.

Last year, 668 rhino were killed, 66 of them in KwaZulu-Natal.

Rhino horns are used as dagger handles in the Middle Eastern country of Yemen, while in the Far East the horn is prized for its medicinal purposes.