Public engages in talks about rhino poaching
If poaching in Kruger alone was to be curbed, 48 per cent of the country's rhino poaching problem would be eradicated
WHITE RIVER – “I was involved in rhino poaching, but when a suspect was sentenced to more than 70 years imprisonment the other day, I realised it wasn’t worth it. I will now go back to hawking.”
This was the shocking revelation by a female community member at the provincial public hearings of the portfolio committee on environmental affairs that took place on Friday. Community members were offered the opportunity to discuss possible solutions to the current rhino poaching crisis with experts.
The hearing took place at Ingwenyama Sports & Conference Resort and was attended by hundreds of community members from as far as Nkomazi, officials from the Department of Environ-mental Affairs, SANParks officials, private land owners and rhino activists.
Deputy director general of biodiversy and conservation at the Department of Environmental Affairs, Mr Fundisile Mketeni, elaborated on various aspects of rhino poaching. He firstly pointed out that, thanks to interventions by man, there are currently 21 000 rhino in South Africa of which between 8 600 and 9 400 roam the Kruger National Park (KNP). Up to 75,7 per cent of white rhino are owned by the state, with 24,3 per cent of the animals in private ownership.
Mketeni stressed that communities surrounding high risk areas such as Kruger should be the first line of defence in the war against poaching. “We need good intelligence and we need to be proactive,” he said and added that, if poaching in Kruger alone was to be curbed, 48 per cent of the country’s rhino poaching problem would be eradicated. “Joint and integrated efforts have more impact. Active participation by the public is very important.”
By Friday, 736 rhino had been poached in South Africa since the beginning of the year, 467 of them in Kruger – not good news at all if one takes into account that it was full moon this past weekend during which many more of our rhino surely fell prey to poachers. However, from statistics given by Mketeni on the number of poachers arrested, it is clear that SANParks rangers are putting up a very brave fight. Also, the number of convictions and hefty sentences imposed shows a clear commitment from state prosecutors and courts to send a clear message that this crime will be met by the same verocity in which it is committed.
In the last year, 70 cases in which 140 suspects are charged with poaching related activities, were before courts around the country. Of these, 85 suspects were convicted, implying a conviction rate of 61 per cent. Fifty-nine of these convicted suspects were South Africans, 20 Mozambican, three Vietnamese, two Zimbabwean and one a Congolese national.
However, Mr Dex Kotze, a well-known local conservation activist, contested these statistics. He said that, if you compare these to statistics on SANParks’ website, only 16 per cent of the accused were convicted.
Kotze also mentioned that, what was worrisome to him, was that president Mr Jacob Zuma didn’t even bother to attend the recent U.S. Africa Leaders Summit in Washington where wildlife trafficking was one of the topics discussed. “The presidents of Tanzania, Namibia, the Togolese and Gabonese Republics were there, but the leader of South Africa, which is being hit hardest by rhino poachers, wasn’t present. What is even more worrisome, is that President Zuma was in Washington at that time.” Mr Jackson Mthembu, chairman of the portfolio committee on environmental affairs, agreed to convey this message to parliament.
Rangers also mentioned that they were tired of public servants that were found to be involved in rhino poaching. They were of the opinion that stiffer sentences should be imposed on them and that their assets should be seized.
Mketeni concluded his presentation by summarising recent announcements by minister Ms Edna Molewa on how government aims to curb rhino poaching, which includes:
• Reducing the demand for illegal rhino horn
• Reducing the price of rhino horn
• Growing the number of rhino populations
• Increase community beneficiation from rhinos and
• Increasing the economic value of rhino for the benefit of all South Africans.
In my opinion our current Government is not doing enough to stem the poaching of our Rhino. They keep on feeding us statistics that are not true and think they are dealing with an uninformed public, they should put their money where their mouth is and make a stout effort to undo all the harm they have done up to this point. I for one am not going to hold my breath for the corruption in South Africa and in other states in Africa is horrendous and unforgivable. Please try to remember Sirs that we are not a bunch of absolute idiots and as taxpayers we demand that you do something positive for a change.
blah blah blah…they can talk all they want because thats all they do…they talk so much they dont even know there are people who are out there protecting our rhino…that dont get a cent from the government…they to interested in giving poachers the right to be taken to court ..these poachers deserve to die on the spot that they kill the animals..evil human beings who do this mean more to this government than the innocent animals..if u are caught with guns and ammunitions …axes…pangas..u are a poacher and u should die on the spot…when the government wake up and start doin this then we may start winning this war..so keep talking because ur the reason the rhino and elephant and whales and dolphins..will become extinct