Cape Town - Are South Africa’s “hot pursuit” operations against rhino poachers fleeing back to Mozambique actually just a luke-warm chase or – worse – simply tracking that comes to a cold stop at the border?
That question has been raised in Parliament as the body count of poached rhinos continues to climb.
As of Wednesday, it was 736 and, if this rate continues, last year’s record death toll of 1 004 rhinos will be eclipsed with the final 2014 toll perhaps reaching 1 096.
Parliament was told this killing rate could see white rhinos becoming extinct as early as the end of the present decade.
“By 2019 we will only see or hear rhinos on Google or in the library. Is this what we want as heritage for our children?” Cope MP Deidre Carter asked during Tuesday’s parliamentary debate on on rhino poaching.
The issue of pursuit operations against poachers, operating as small gangs in the eastern Kruger National after infiltrating from Mozambique, was confirmed recently by national police commissioner General Riah Phiyega.
She said there was a “hot pursuit” agreement with Mozambique and that such operations occurred regularly although South Africa was careful to abide by legalities so that it could not be accused of rendition.
But she was challenged by DA MP Terri Stander, who said that according to sources within the police and Kruger, no hot-pursuit operations had taken place because the necessary agreement between South Africa and Mozambique had not been finalised.
“There is also concern that in the absence of an extradition treaty, any apprehended suspects will not be able to be brought back to South Africa for prosecution.”
Stander, who has posed formal parliamentary questions to Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko about the issue, raised it again on Tuesday. “When I probed the South African Police Service in our portfolio committee, it was confirmed by their representatives that the ‘hot-pursuit’ claim was nothing but hot air. Our law enforcement officials are handcuffed by the present rules of engagement.”
She called on ministers in the government’s security cluster to help change the rules of engagement; to get formal, written, hot-pursuit agreements in place; and to sign extradition treaties to prosecute suspects in South Africa.
FF Plus leader Dr Pieter Mulder said his party supported hot-pursuit tactics to control poaching. “We believe it’s legal and is used world-wide. We know it’s controversial but it’s worth taking some calculated risks.”
Deputy Police Minister Maggie Sotyu defended Phiyega, saying the commissioner had developed “an integrated and multi-disciplinary collaborated process” between the relevant police divisions – the Hawks, detective services and the operational response service.
There was also now a dedicated special investigation unit led by the detective services that focused on rhino poaching only. “This unit, which is located within the police cross-border unit, operates under the operational agreement between the Southern African Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation...
“The cross-border unit is a broader operational strategy to focus on all ‘hot-pursuits’ as prioritised by the police. For example, the cross-border unit also focuses on stock theft, motor vehicle theft, human trafficking, and other related cases,” Sotyu said.
Cape Argus