22 October 2012 - South
Africa remains committed to entering into
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
Vietnam that will promote cooperation between
the two countries and compliance with CITES.
The MoU will be addressing, in particular,
the illegal trade in rhino horn that has
seen a scourge in rhino poaching.
Contrary to recent media
reports, both countries are still committed
to entering into an MoU and discussions
on a future date for both ministers to sign
the MoU are already underway.
Government is convinced
that for South Africa to effectively deal
with the current scourge of poaching, and
with illegal hunting largely driven by international
demand for the rhino horn, these international
engagements and agreements are crucial.
This as the latest rhino poaching statistics
indicate that a total of 467 rhinos have
been lost to illegal killings since the
beginning of this year. The Kruger National
Park remains the hardest hit having lost
281 rhinos. The provinces most affected
by rhino poaching are KwaZulu Natal, Limpopo
and the North West, collectively accounting
for 152 rhinos lost to illegal killings
since the beginning of this year. A total
of 208 people have been arrested in connection
with rhino related activities.
In September 2011, the
governments of Vietnam and South Africa
agreed on a process towards the finalisation
of the MoU that will see the collaboration
of natural resource management, wildlife
protection and law enforcement. South Africa
had hoped to sign the MoU at the recently
held 11th Meeting of the Conference of the
Parties (COP11) to the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) in India which was concluded
last week.
The objective of the
MoU is to promote cooperation between the
two countries in the field of biodiversity
conservation and protection, law enforcement
and compliance with CITES on the basis of
equity and mutual benefit. The two countries
have agreed that the MoU and the subsequent
implementation plan allow co-operation in
areas of biodiversity conservation, biodiversity
law enforcement, wildlife trade, information
and intelligence sharing and gathering,
permit issuing processes and verification
mechanisms, monitoring and reporting systems,
technology development and sharing, capacity
building and training, prosecution and law
enforcement, awareness, knowledge and research,
custom services and legal systems within
which the two countries operate.
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The Department of Environmental
Affairs updates on the work of the Rhino
Issue Manager and the way forward
04 October 2012 - The
Department of Environmental Affairs wishes
to update South Africans on the work of
the Rhino Issue Manager appointed by the
Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs,
Minister Edna Molewa.
The Rhino Issue Manager
was appointed in May this year with the
responsibility of conducting research and
convening a series of stakeholder dialogues
with all interested parties to facilitate
wide-ranging and expert input into policy
thinking. In the course of the work of the
RIM, a total of 12 stakeholder meetings
have been held in Gauteng, Durban and Cape
Town, with presentations being conducted
in Bloemfontein and Cape Town.
Participants in the
RIM dialogues included, among others, government
departments, national and provincial, state
agencies, safety and security agencies,
parks authorities, economists, resource
economists, and technology suppliers. Virtually
all elements of civil society participated
in the RIM dialogues including NGO’s, interested
individuals, farmers, hunters, local communities,
private rhino owners, conservation bodies,
scientific and academic communities and
social media based organisations (international
and local). The media were invited to and
attended each of the RIM dialogues and were
provided with a dedicated media briefing
in August.
Over the past five months,
the RIM has conducted some 400 one-on-one
consultations with the entire spectrum of
stakeholders, all of which will be considered
and fed into the report of the RIM which
is expected to be submitted on the 31st
October this year. Minister Molewa would
like to express her appreciation to all
those who have given of their time to make
input into the RIM process to date.
The report will reflect
and synthesise all expert input, research,
interests, viewpoints and opinions expressed
during the RIM process and will make a series
of recommendations to the Minister with
respect to issues ranging from rhino conservation,
to security and trade.
Once received, the RIM
report will be presented to DEA, before
being considered by the Minister. The findings
and recommendations of the RIM report will
be considered entirely at the discretion
of the Minister. It is worth noting, however,
that the RIM was an initiative of Minister
Molewa, and signifies the importance with
which the Department of Environmental Affairs
and the South African government view rhino
conservation and the seriousness with which
it is tackling the scourge of rhino poaching.
It is worth noting that
the government has increased patrols by
Protected Area authorities, involved the
security cluster in the anti-poaching campaign,
including deploying the SANDF in the Kruger
National Park, the Hawks have implemented
fast-track investigations of anti-rhino/endangered
species crimes, the NPA has imposed stiffer
sentences without the option of a fine and
SARS is on constant lookout for smugglers
of CITES-banned species. There has also
been seizure of poachers and criminals assets
by the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
The South African government
is determined to win the war against rhino
poaching and calls on all South Africans
to do their part to assist. Any incidents
of rhino poaching or tip-offs that can prevent
illegal killings, or lead to arrests can
be reported to 0800 205 005
