THE stiff sentence handed down to an ivory smuggler last week marked a turning point in the way our justice system regards this crime.
Cheng Jie Liang was sentenced in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court to a R5 million fine and 10 years in jail. Three years were suspended provided he pay the fine within 12 months
In the field of wildlife crime, this is something of a record. It is true that in recent years South African courts have handed down heavier jail sentence for rhino horn poaching, but apart from the multi-million rand fine levied some years ago on the now defunct Hout Bay Fishing company for illegal fishing, this is the heaviest fine for a wildlife crime the country has seen.
It is a fitting punishment. The ton of ivory found in Liang’s possession – some tusks still moist with blood and tissue – represented at least 34 elephants that had fallen to poachers’ guns. Evidence in court was that elephant poaching has rocketed to the point where one is killed every 15 minutes. At this rate, they would be close to extinction within 10 years.
There is something else which makes it an important case: The tusks found in Liang’s possession were not from our own elephants, as only three have been killed by poachers in South Africa in the last decade. None of the expert witnesses were able to say in which country the elephants had been poached, and Liang chose to remain silent in the trial.
Those who track wildlife crime report that our courts have been reluctant to impose heavy fines on ivory smugglers simply because the elephants killed were not our own. That the Khayelitsha court took a different view, is a welcome development.
The ivory stash was worth R21m. Liang or his syndicate should have no trouble paying the fine – but it will hurt, as will the loss of their illegal haul. It is right that they feel it in their pockets.
Ivory smuggling is an international crime, involving many countries and international syndicates. South Africa is increasingly being used as a country of transit. If it is not punished severely in every country involved there is little chance of curbing the illegal trade. The Khayelitsha judgment and sentence shows our courts have recognised this.