Environmental Affairs Minister, Edna Molewa is backing the controversial call to put in place legislation for the trade of rhino horns. Molewa said in an interview that she believes it “is the right direction” and could be the answer to increasing rates of rhino poaching.

It now seems that South Africa is set to push ahead with the trade proposals at the next 178-country Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) to be hosted in Cape Town in 2016.

If plans go ahead, this will be South Africa’s third attempt to open trade on rhino horn since 1994.

Molewa said in an interview at the recent Cites conference in Bangkok:

We believe it is the right direction as one of the measures [to curb rhino poaching]. The model that we have is based on pure law of supply and demand. Economics 101. Our rhinos are killed every day and the numbers are going up. The reality is that we have done all in our power and doing the same thing every day isn’t working. We do think that we need to address this issue of trade in a controlled manner so that we can at least begin to push down this pressure.

Anti-trade organisations

Open trade proposals are signs of desperation, with rhino death rates exceeding birth rates.

Will Travers, an animal welfare campaigner and the chief executive of the Born Foundation said:

So what are they saying by legalising rhino-horn trade? Here is a product that every sensible scientist says has no significant impact and they are going to sell it at huge cost to a public that is ill-informed. I wouldn’t go to sleep at night if I thought I was selling something like that to a Vietnamese family who have scrimped and saved every cent to buy rhino horn for their dying grandmother, who then goes and dies.

Environmental department deputy director general, Fundisile Mketeni said that South Africa “had not yet decided to sell rhino horn.”

We say we must talk about it. Because all other things are spoken about, but this one seems taboo. We are saying we have tried everything, let’s start talking about this one.

Environmentalists are worried about the “dangerous mixed messages” South Africa is sending to countries like Vietnam, whose laws and policing are inadequate to crack down on the illegal trade of rhino horn. Mark Jones, executive director of humane society, International United Kingdom said:

I worry that we really do not understand the market and I worry that for regulated trade to work effectively, the consumer countries have to be able to regulate that trade and  we are not in a situation where those consumer countries are in a position to do that.

Johnny Lange, ANC MP and chairperson of the Parliamentary portfolio committee on Water and Envrionment affairs said there was a need for “multilayered strategies” to deal with the problem.

We do not have solutions to the black market, which is rapidly expanding and is just consuming and consuming: 3.3 tonnes of horn a year is being consumed.

To be able to trade, South Africa would need to find a trading partner and sway a two thirds majority of Cites members in favour of the proposal.

[Source: Mail&Guardian]