SA won’t legalise trade in rhino horn: Cabinet
South Africa will not legalise the trade in rhino horn, but stick to its efforts to beef up anti-poaching strategies within its borders, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said on Thursday.
Briefing journalists in Parliament, Radebe said last week’s cabinet meeting endorsed recommendations by a committee of inquiry looking into the feasibility of trading in rhino horn as an option to preserve the country’s rhino population.
“The recommendations endorse South Africa’s integrated strategic management approach to resolving the poaching of rhino and illegal trade in rhino,” Radebe said.
“The committee recommends that the current mode of keeping the country’s stock levels be kept as opposed to the trading in rhino horns.”
The recommendations were also endorsed by an inter-departmental technical advisory committee set up last year to investigate the viability of legalising the trade in rhino horn.
South Africa’s rhino population has been under threat as rhino poaching soared over the past few years. The 2015 statistics, however, showed a slight decline in the number of rhino killed by poachers for their horns. - ANA