State silent on rhino deaths
Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, remains tight-lipped about the poaching statistics for 2016
WHILE statistics are still sketchy as to how many rhino were poached during 2016, unofficial figures show that 162 rhino were killed in KZN alone.
Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, remains tight-lipped about the poaching statistics for 2016.
Claims of rhino horn trafficking within her own government has not not gone unnoticed and fingers are being pointed at the minister for her lack of response to the accusations made against State Security Minister David Mahlobo.
Mahlobo was implicated in trafficking rhino horn late last year.
The DA has called for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate to investigate Mahlobo’s involvement.
The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has not published rhino poaching statistics since September last year.
By then, 702 rhino had been poached nationally and the figure being bandied around is that the final figure was over 1 100.
Continuous data, say conservationists, is important for the protection of the species.
Allison Thomson, founder of Outraged South African Citizens Against Rhino Poaching (OSCARP), believes the DEA may be ‘stalling to let this whole Mahlobo issue die down a bit.’
Thomson says Mahlobo is one of the ministers that usually attends Molewa’s media conferences, ‘so I think they are feeling a little awkward at the moment’.
Eleanor Momberg, Acting Director for External Communication at the DEA, earlier said the minister would be releasing the statistics for 2016 ‘in due course’, adding that a press conference was scheduled for the first week of February.
That date has already passed and the public is still in the dark as to when the announcement will be made.
Albi Modise of the DEA has since confirmed that no date had been set for release of the statistics
Court figures
It has been reported that the 2016 figures for the Kruger Park were inadvertently placed on record at the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court last week as part of aggravating factors in support of a sentence for convicted poacher Simon Ngubane.
Senior State Advocate Isabet Erwee said the figures for Kruger provide an indication that a ‘total onslaught on the rhino population’ was still in full force.
Her records showed that a total of 622 rhinos were poached in the Kruger National Park in 2016 and a further 21 since the beginning of 2017.
If these figures are correct, the number of deaths in Kruger has dropped by 204 compared to 2015.
Rhino poaching has since shown a dramatic increase elsewhere, notably in KZN.
OSCARP, who gleaned independent statistics from verified sources or from newspaper articles and other social media outlets, suggest the number of poached rhino is still staggeringly high.
Thomson calculates that at least 1 105 were killed in 2016, a figure not significantly different from 1 175 in 2015.
Convictions
Another worrying statistic is the revelation that conviction rates are agonizingly low despite an increase of arrests.
OSCARP says Molewa claimed a successful conviction rate of 78%, while a more thorough analysis shows it was only 15%.
‘The problem lies with the minister’s definition of conviction rates.
‘Her percentage only takes into account those cases that went to trial and where there was some form of verdict.
‘Her evaluation does not compare the number of prosecutions with the number of arrests.
‘For example, in 2015 there were 317 arrests, but only 54 were prosecuted.
‘In other words, only 17% of those arrested led to prosecutions in 2015.
‘For the whole of 2016, anti-poaching officials made 281 arrests in the Kruger Park.
‘Once arrested, poachers are taken to Skukuza Magistrates’ Court, which has lately become severely overloaded.’
Advocate Erwee said a total of 25 to 30 matters is on the court roll every Wednesday.
‘Some days, we have more than 50 accused in the dock.
‘As a result, trials cannot proceed and extra court dates have to be arranged, often with the perpetrators walking free.’
Erwee is also on record saying arrests and convictions did not seem to scare off poachers.
‘This is a crime of greed,’ she said. ‘Kingpins pay a lot, and the business has become a fashionable one.
‘Although many suspects are killed during contacts or end up losing limbs, the lure of money is stronger than the fear of death.’
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