Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) joins Minister Dion George in welcoming the Calvinia Regional Court’s sentencing of four individuals to 15 years’ imprisonment for the poaching of Clivia plants. Strong sentences such as these are important deterrents and should be commended.
However, despite this progress, the illegal poaching of Clivia and succulent species remains rampant.
The DA is deeply concerned that enforcement efforts are faltering.
Several endangered and critically endangered plant species, including eight species of Conophytum, have already been driven to extinction in the wild due to unchecked poaching and the illegal trade in rare plants.
Informal reports from the Northern Cape suggest a near-collapse of enforcement capacity.
Arrests have reportedly slowed to almost zero following the suspension and removal of key law enforcement officers from the Stock Theft and Endangered Species Units under questionable circumstances.
Alarmingly, remaining officers are said to be avoiding action on tip-offs due to fears for their personal safety and job security.
To establish the true scale of the crisis, the DA will be submitting parliamentary questions this week to Acting Minister of Police, Gwede Mantashe, to request:
- Monthly figures on plant poaching arrests in the Northern and Western Cape over the past two years;
- Details of plant species and quantities seized in these arrests;
- Geographic breakdown of where arrests occurred.
These answers are crucial to restoring transparency and accountability in environmental law enforcement.
The DA firmly stands against the illegal harvesting of our natural heritage.
We call on local, provincial, and national law enforcement, conservation authorities, and prosecutorial bodies to act in a coordinated and urgent manner.
South Africa is facing one of the most aggressive plant extinction events in modern history, and failure to act decisively now will have irreversible consequences for our biodiversity and ecosystems.
Regards
Andrew de Blocq MP
DA Spokesperson on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment