Online rhino horn auction delayed
Publish date: 22 August 2017
Issue Number: 521
Diary: Legalbrief Environmental
Category: Corruption
A controversial online rhino horn auction was delayed at the last moment yesterday following to confusion over a permit, writes Legalbrief. The Department of Environmental Affairs has confirmed that the much-anticipated auction that was set to take place yesterday, following an urgent court application by organiser and rhino breeder John Hume, has been postponed until 2pm tomorrow due to legal challenges. A News24 report reports that Environment Ministry spokesperson Moses Rannditsheni earlier confirmed that the selling permit was issued ‘in error’ by an official who ‘could have possibly regarded it as one of the other (environmental) permits’. It has been reported that one of the auction officials says the permit was only received yesterday morning. The official web site for the auction has also been updated with adjustments to the date and time of the auction. On Sunday, the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) ordered the department to issue the pre-approved permit. The confusion around the permits might have undermined both the Minister and the department’s attempt to ban the online auction. However, the High Court ruling has indicated that the department must now be granted access to the online auction to do the necessary compliance monitoring. Rannditshen said that the department has learned a ‘big lesson’ from this and ‘will look at tightening the permit issuing process internally to ensure this does not happen again’.
Conservationists have condemned Hume's planned online auction. According to a Cape Times report, the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s (Ifaw) director for southern Africa, Joseph Okori, said it is a sale based entirely on the greed of one man and plays into the hands of poachers and illegal wildlife traders. In addition, he said it ignores the fact that more than 7 000 rhinos have been brutally killed for their horns in less than 10 years, while countless brave rangers have also died trying to protect rhinoceros. Okra argues that legalising the sale of rhino horn will not reduce demand. 'As long as a legal market exists, criminals will attempt to launder horns to reap the profits,' he said. The online auction will be followed by a live auction in mid-September. Hume’s attorney and spokesperson, Izak du Toit, said the allegation of greed is false and it borders on slander. 'The objective fact is that John Hume has expended more of his own personal money than any other individual on Earth in his endeavours to protect, conserve and breed rhino. On the other hand, Ifaw has probably collected more money than most other animal rights organisations in the world. Ifaw actually benefits financially from the ongoing poaching scourge,’ he said.
The Department of Environmental Affairs has clarified the processes associated with the domestic trade in rhino horn. According to a report on the SA News site, the department said legislative provisions are in place to ensure the domestic trade in rhino horn is strictly controlled and that the prohibition of the commercial international trade by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is not violated. ‘The current regulatory regime includes, amongst others, National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act (NEMBA), TOPS Regulations, Rhino N&S and provincial. Additional measures are being taken to tighten legislation with regard to the domestic trade in rhino horn,’ the department said. Responding to a claim that Environment Minister Edna Molewa is ‘acting irresponsibly’ by allowing the on-line auction, or any sale/ trade domestically in rhino horn, the department said government has a Constitutional mandate and a duty in terms of the NEMBA to regulate the domestic trade of rhino horn. ‘It should be emphasised that the planned sale of rhino horn by private rhino owners is for domestic trade only. Domestic trade in rhino horn is subject to the issuance of the relevant permits in terms of NEMBA, its regulations and applicable provincial legislation,’ government said. ‘As of today, no permits have been issued by the national Department of Environmental Affairs to sellers or buyers of rhino horn in terms of the permitted domestic trade,’ the department explained.
The Ministry of Tourism has expressed concern about the fake news report purporting to reflect the views of Tourism Minister Tokozile Xasa on rhino poaching. According to an SA News report, the Department of Tourism stated categorically that 'the Minister did not and could never have expressed any views remotely justifying the criminal and barbaric practice of rhino poaching'. Xasa has cautioned the public to be mindful of fake news web sites and other platforms that peddle untruths intended to confuse and cause harm, rather than inform the public. ‘Rhinos are an important part of our national and cultural heritage and must be protected for the benefit of current and future generations. Working together with civil society and communities, our sister department, the Department of Environmental Affairs, continues to register success in fighting poachers,’ the statement said.
Four men suspected of poaching a rhino were last week arrested between Cradock and Queenstown after a bloody axe and a hunting rifle were found in their bakkie. A report in The Herald notes that Eastern Cape reserves have been on high alert for the past week after a group of suspected poachers, driving the same bakkie as those arrested, was spotted around several reserves in the province. Since the men’s arrest, officials have asked various game farms in the Eastern Cape to tally their rhino. Police forensic experts have stripped stripping the bakkie but failed to find any signs of horn hidden inside the panels. Police had not yet found the suspected poached animal but confirmed the blood inside the bakkie had been sent for forensic testing. The arrests come less than a week after poachers killed and dehorned two rhinos on the Lombardini Game Farm between Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp. Police suspect the men could be linked to the Lombardini poaching but are still gathering evidence. The men are due to appear in the Cradock Magistrate’s Court on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. Wildlife vet Dr William Fowlds said: ‘It is imperative that wildlife crime in the Eastern Cape does not escalate out of control as it has in many other parts of South Africa. Full credit to all those who are helping to hold back this crime wave.’
