Johannesburg -
There may be a “pro-trade bias” in the composition of a committee of inquiry created to probe the feasibility of the government selling its massive 21-ton rhino horn stockpile.
Mary Rice, who heads the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), told the Saturday Star that she isn’t surprised by the 21-member committee, unveiled by Environmental Affair Minister Edna Molewa, this week.
“Given the government’s clear indications with regard to its stance, we’re not surprised to see a pro-trade bias in its composition. However, we believe it would be unfair to anticipate its final decision,” she said, adding she was encouraged that the committee members had now been revealed.
The EIA maintains that a legal trade in rhino horn would be an utter disaster for the species:
“It’s a naive fallacy that consumer demand could ever be satiated by a legal supply. There just isn’t enough horn, “ she said.
The commission of inquiry will make recommendations to government on a range of rhino-related issues, but its most important decision, arguably, is whether a proposal for the legalisation of trade in rhino horn should be made.
If the committee gives the green light to the trade in rhino horn, the government could table a formal proposal at next year’s meeting of the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild in South Africa. But this will require a two-thirds majority before approval is given.
The government’s rhino horn stockpile is estimated to be valued at more than $1 billion (R11.7bn).
Yolan Friedmann, chief executive of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, and a member of the panel, said: “This whole rhino thing is a crisis. To me, everyone is pulling in opposite directions. This is a multi-disciplined, multi-sectoral panel, and we need to allow the panel some time and space to do the work… We don’t all need to have the same opinion and perspective. It’s a very large amount of work we need to do.”
Allison Thomson, founder of Outraged SA Citizens Against Poaching, said the committee is merely a “box-ticking” exercise: “The committee is neither balanced nor representative. Most members are government employees who will not speak out against the government.”
It is “scandalous”, she said, that the committee includes officials implicated in financial misconduct “They are making decisions for a multibillion-rand industry.”
The committee is chaired by Lourence Mogakane, who was fired from his previous job as financial director of the Bohlabela district municipality in Limpopo, for gross misconduct and financial mismanagement.
The Department of Environmental Affairs insists all members have been vetted by state security.
“South Africa has not taken a position on the issue and will not do so until the committee has completed its work and presented its findings.”
The EIA argues that rhino poaching is a transnational crime organised by, and profiting, major criminal syndicates.
“What is needed is a coherent international strategy of intelligence-led enforcement to take these criminal organisations down, with serious jail time for the masterminds at the top and seizure of all assets.
“The government… would achieve much more for the rhino if it spearheaded efforts to achieve this.”
Saturday Star