Johannesburg - Two accused rhino poachers who were allegedly part of a syndicate operated by game farmer Hugo Ras are hoping that the recent overturning of South Africa’s moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn could help set them free.
The trial of Joseph Joshua Wilkinson, a Pretoria lawyer, and pilot David Jacobus Steyn, along with their eight co-accused who were nabbed in a countrywide swoop by the Hawks in 2014, has been set down for later this month.
But in documents before the North Gauteng High Court, the pair argue that many of the charges brought against them are “unconstitutional” because they relate to the moratorium that was introduced in August 2008 regarding the sale and trade in rhino horn, which has now been overturned.
Last month, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa revealed she had filed an application for leave to appeal in the Constitutional Court in the matter involving the domestic trade in rhino horn after the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal against an earlier North Gauteng High Court ruling in January.
“I’m advised that a petition - to the Constitutional Court - is pending, however; I’m of the view that once the Constitutional Court had also ruled upon this aspect and the moratorium, as well as the trading in rhino horn is legalised, that all the charges relating to the trade and possession and transport of rhino horn that are contained in the charge sheet against me and every other accused in this case will have no further legal basis,” Steyn and Wilkinson argue.
That the moratorium was ruled unconstitutional by the High Court as well as the Supreme Court of Appeal will have a “marked effect” upon the charges brought by the State in this case.
There are a total of 103 charges, which include the sale, transport and export of rhino horn, in the charge sheet.
Allison Thomson, of Outraged South African Citizens Against Poaching, remarked yesterday that the case had widespread implications on all arrests that had been made in all rhino poaching cases.
“As with all cases there are Constitutional issues that need to be answered. The result of this is that we are likely to see all the rhino poaching cases postponed, pending the outcome of this case.”
Saturday Star