Court ruling legalises domestic rhino horn sales
The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) failed to convince the Constitutional Court of the need to appeal a High Court decision to overturn the moratorium on domestic trade in rhino horn
FOLLOWING a Constitutional Court judgement, the buying and selling of rhino horn is legal within the borders of South Africa..
The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) failed to convince the Constitutional Court of the need to appeal a High Court decision to overturn the moratorium on domestic trade in rhino horn.
In its application to the ConCourt, the DEA noted ‘government would effectively be facilitating the unregulated and illegal flow of rhino horn into the international market.
‘This would violate the Cites ban on the import and export of rhino horn for commercial purposes’. The DEA said this could result in an ‘overall trade suspension if rhino horn is exported in violation of the Convention’.
The original application challenging the moratorium was brought by Johan Kruger in 2012. He was later joined by John Hume in 2015 with the Wildlife Ranching South Africa and the Private Rhino Owners Association of South Africa supporting the application.
On 26 November 2015 the High Court set aside the moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn with immediate and retrospective effect.
The Minister then filed an application for leave to appeal to the High Court, which was dismissed. She then petitioned the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), but this was dismissed with costs in May last year.
The Minister then applied to the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal the decision in June. Last week’s decision was the outcome of this application. Tanya Jacobsen of the RhinoAlive Campaign says,’
The last time rhino numbers increased healthily was when domestic trade in horn was legal, pre-2009.
‘Hopefully this ruling will see the numbers growing again as more private reserves invest in rhinos, and these reserves and national parks are able to generate desperately needed funds for better anti-poaching resources.’
The DEA says it is studying the implications of the order. ‘It should be noted that the court’s decision should not be construed to mean that the domestic trade in rhino horn may take place in an unregulated fashion,’ Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said in a statement on Wednesday.
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