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State loses case to retain ban on sale of rhino horn

 

The moratorium on domestic trade in rhino horn has been lifted. This follows a decision by the High Court (HC) in Pretoria on 20 January not to grant the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) leave to appeal against the HC's earlier ruling to have the ban lifted.

Musina attorney Mr Hennie Erwee, who handled the case on behalf of his clients John Hume and Johan Kruger, was not only pleased with the outcome, but had also predicted it correctly. He explained that Hume and Kruger had challenged the moratorium on the sale of rhino horns, which was instated in February 2009, on the grounds that public consultation processes were not followed and traders not properly consulted.

Not only did the government lose in its attempt to have the ban on the domestic trade in rhino horn kept in place, but they will also have to pay Hume and Kruger’s legal fees.

Last Thursday, 21 January, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa told a news conference that her department would apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal. Until the application has been lodged, the moratorium is legally no longer in place.

According to Erwee, the HC rejected the department’s application because it failed to bring new legal arguments to the table. In addition, the first ruling was made by a full bench of judges, about which the HC said that it believed that no other court would come to a different conclusion.

“My advice to the Minister is to just accept her loss and to start working with the private rhino farmers to help curb the enormous poaching problem we have in South Africa. The government has already proven that they cannot cope on their own,” said Erwee this week.

Apart from their intention to appeal to the Supreme Court, Minister Molewa will have to prepare an acceptable outline on the department's stance on the matter to present to the 17th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in April this year.

South Africa, as this year’s conference host, faces the largest recorded rhino poaching incidents worldwide.  Molewa confirmed at her news conference that a total of 1 175 rhinos were poached during 2015.

At the moment, the international trade in rhino horn was banned by CITES in the 1970s and only South Africa and Swaziland are allowed to export hunting trophies of rhino. According to CITES, a country that seeks to motivate in support of the trade in rhino horn will need to present supporting documents to justify their decision. A vote of a two-thirds majority of the 181 CITES member countries is needed for the international ban to be lifted.

The spokesperson for the DEA, Albi Modisi, confirmed that the interministerial committee will soon meet to consider the report to be submitted to CITES.

 

 

Date:01 February 2016

By: Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

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