The assault on South Africa's rhino population continues unabated. More than 220 rhinos have already been killed by poachers in 2011, and the total figure is sadly well on track to far exceed the 333 rhinos killed by poachers in 2010.

The focus on protecting the rhino population has justifiably been on curbing the poaching of rhinos, and attempting to prevent the export of illegally obtained rhino horns. But it has now been revealed that a small number of professional hunters have been exploiting the legal hunting of rhinos as a means to export rhino horn into the illegal trade.

Rhino hunting is regulated according to the various provinces' needs, and it is essential that oversight be strengthened and governance improved at both national and provincial level.

For this reason, the Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, in consultation with the provincial MECs for Environmental Affairs and Conservation, to institute a short-term moratorium on rhino hunting to allow for an improvement in controls.

Several journalists have exposed in the last week how Thai nationals have allegedly been issued with hunting permits in the North West province over the last year. It appears that many, if not all, of these permit holders did not shoot the rhinos themselves, thus making the hunts illegal.

Further, the reports of the investigative journalists have alleged that the rhino horns have been mounted as trophies and then exported to the Far East where the 'trophies' entered the illegal trade in rhino horn. A rhino horn trophy is intended only for the use of the hunter who legally killed the rhino.

The provincial conservation authorities in the North West province have questions to answer as to how they allowed these practices to take place. However, we should equally be concerned about the other provinces that have ramped up the awarding of permits for the hunting of rhinos, notably Limpopo province and Mpumalanga province.

I will today be writing to the Minister to ask her to consider the implementation of a moratorium. She is admittedly in a difficult position, as the issuing of hunting permits is a function of the provinces. But as the national custodian of the environment she has a duty to consider all means to improve the protection of the rhino population.

There are a number of important action steps that the Minister needs to take to improve regulations around rhino hunting. First, there needs to be a national online registry of hunting permits.

In real time, any provincial conservation official processing a hunting permit should be able to establish the record of the applicant across South Africa.

At the same time, the national Department of Environmental Affairs would be able to track trends providing important intelligence on proposed hunts that may not be in line with the law.

Secondly, the national Minister needs to engage with her provincial counterparts about conducting a full audit of rhino hunts in the provinces over the last 18 months.

It needs to be established to what extent (beyond the recent media exposés) government officials and professional hunters have been knowingly complicit in rhino hunts that have led to the rhino 'trophies' entering the international rhino horn trade.

Lastly, the national Minister, informed by the best science available, needs to lead a discussion on the number of rhinos that should be permitted to be hunted in South Africa each year, and whether there should be a maximum allowable number of rhino permits for each province.

The DA is very aware that moratoriums of any kind can have unforeseen consequences. For this reason, if the Minister does institute a moratorium it should be for a stated time period, and she needs to commit to improving the regulation of rhino hunting during that time.

Gareth Morgan, DA Spokesperson on Water and Environmental Affairs

I was privileged last week to attend a briefing by Jabulani Ngubane, the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (Ezemvelo) Officer tasked with developing and co-ordinating the Provincial strategy to curb Rhino Poaching. His presentation clearly demonstrated that not only is EKZNW determined to stop Rhino poaching, but that they are making significant progress. Their efforts are also part of a National initiative that appears to be gaining momentum. As of the end of June, 193 Rhino had been poached across SA, 126 in the Kruger National Park, 27 in Limpopo, 16 in KwaZulu-Natal and 24 across the balance of the Provinces (www.stoprhinopoaching.com). Although this is a scary number – 1 Rhino every 21 hours, it is distorted by the extremely high number of Rhino poached in Kruger. If you exclude Kruger then the current trends suggest that the 2011 figures may be 20% LOWER than 2010 (140 vs. 187)! Kruger’s 2011 figure is currently 126 (vs. 146 in 2010), thus the current trends suggests a 75% increase in Kruger incidents. However, this could simply be a result of the increased scrutiny which is resulting in more carcasses being found. In addition, there has been a significant increase in the number of rhino poaching related arrests. In 2010, a total of 165 arrests were made. 123 arrests have been made this year!

 The numbers only tell part of the story. The renewed focus on Rhino poaching has seen a significant re-investment in conservation law enforcement, including new vehicles, additional staff, improved training and monitoring, funding for informer networks, raised Prosecutor and Magistrate awareness and understanding, and increased SANDF presence along our borders. Perversely, the sudden increase in rhino poaching was probably one of the best things that could have happened to South Africa’s conservation efforts, as it has re-focused Government attention on the need to protect our vulnerable natural heritage.

It has also mobilised renewed civil society support with South Africa’s non-profit sector mobilising their networks to raise funds for the anti-poaching efforts. KZN has been blessed by a number of these initiatives, including significant campaigns launched by WWF-SA, WESSA, Wildlands, Wildlife ACT, the African Conservation Trust, Game Rangers Association and the Thanda Foundation, in addition to direct corporate support from Mondi and Waltons. Whilst these efforts are using the Rhino massacre to anchor their efforts, the funds that are being raised are sorely needed in the conservation sector. The danger is that the diversity of appeals could dilute the potential impact of this effort, with each organisation focusing on its own priorities. Thus history was made last Friday, through the establishment of a ground breaking partnership that will see all these organisations co-ordinating their efforts, together with Ezemvelo, under a common campaign banner – PROJECT RHINO. I have no doubt that this collective effort will have a significant impact.

Unfortunately, the news is not all good. Africa Geographic has reported that Dawie Groenewald, the Professional Hunter arrested last year for poaching and trading in rhino horn, has been issued with 12 new rhino hunting permits and granted permits on at least 8 occasions to “convey” rhino. This despite currently being out of jail on a R 1 million bail! This is contradictory in the extreme and highlights the fact that the corruption battle is still being fought. As such I feel we need to do everything we can to support Ezemvelo’s exceptional commitment and effort, which I find extremely heartening.