Government lashed for failing rhinos
AS SOUTH Africa continues to lose rhinos in the poaching war, it seems the government is failing those fighting it. Although there has been some success in protecting rhinos in the Kruger National Park, poaching middlemen and kingpins continue to operate with impunity in South Africa as the country fails to successfully prosecute those arrested.
The lifting of the 2009 moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn not only sends confusing messages to rhino horn-consuming nations but raises alarm regarding the country’s control of the situation.
While Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism Edna Molewa announced successful conviction rates of rhino poachers (88% in 2015 and 78% in 2016), this rate only takes into account the cases that went to trial and saw a verdict, painting an inaccurate picture. The conviction rate actually stands at “a pitiful 15%” of those arrested.
Senior State advocate Isabet Erwee, referring to the Skukuza Magistrate’s Court, has said that “A total of 25 to 30 matters is on that court roll every Wednesday,” and that, “some days, we have more than 50 accused in the dock”.
“The frustration is that there are NGOs working specifically in terms of conservation and rhino issues, providing a lot of resources to do the work for them (prosecutors), up to the point where it literally just has to go to court,” says Lise-Marie Greeff-Villet, spokesperson for Peace Parks Foundation.
“They’ve been given everything,
SPONSORED FEATURE
they’ve been given the investigators.”
International NGO WildAid has released a new report citing repeated examples of case dismissals, postponements, intimidation, leniency, plea-bargains and paltry fines, with repeat offenders walking free.
Professional
What is most alarming is that these offenders are often associated with the professional hunting, game farming and veterinary industries.
“I’m aware of cases now that are still open that have been going for at least 18 months to two years,” says Peter Knights, chief executive of WildAid.
The report also suggests that law enforcement officials failed to detect exploitation of the trophy hunting loophole for three years, losing more than 200 white rhino trophies during this time.
Then just last year, a Vietnamese hunter was allowed to shoot a white rhino with an outfit implicated in “thousands of criminal charges”.
“It’s about political will,” says Knights. “For years we have seen one South African elite after another evade justice, despite orchestrating the killing of rhinos and the trafficking of their horns. The corruption, incompetence, and leniency in the system must not be allowed to continue.”
Ross Purdon of the DA agrees. “Political will is everything. You’ve got the State Security Minister, Mahlobo, implicated – he’s meant to be in charge of our safety and security. This is the government we are dealing with.”
Allegations were made against Mahlobo – which he has strenuously denied – after an Al Jazeera report showed a Chinese national linked to rhino horn smuggling bragging on camera about his alleged relationship with the minister, and despite calls for an investigation, no progress has been made.
“One of the other problems is this connection between the private sector and regulations,” says report author Susie Watts. An article by Bryan Christy, published in National Geographic, illustrates her point. In it, Dawie Groenewald, who has more than 1 700 rhino-related charges against him, tells the reporter that while other names were on the court cases to overturn the moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn trade, he was the one behind it.
According to the WildAid report, intelligence generated from sophisticated investigations implicating SAPS officers and government officials from South Africa and Mozambique has not been acted on.
Despite repeated assurances from the government, South Africa has failed to sign an Implementation Agreement based on the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries signed on April 17, 2014.
Speaking of a private investigation company working in the Kruger National Park, Purdon reiterated this. “When they started getting close to the high levels, their contract was terminated.”
“There are three things which we have to be very, very aware of,” says writer and conservationist Ian McCallum.
“It’s a terrible triad of criminality, financial opportunism and the amazing human indifference and defeatism in terms of conservation.”
Commenting on the failure to convict the middlemen and kingpins, the words of environmental attorney Cormac Cullinan, sum it all up:
“The idea of Africa without these magnificent creatures is appalling. Leaving the fate of rhinos in the hands of those who trade their body parts is tantamount to facilitating genocide.
“The message must be unequivocal – killing rhinos and trading in horn is a crime and those involved will be pursued to the ends of the Earth.”