SAAI goes to court over the ban on interprovincial travel for subsistence hunting
The Southern African Agri Initiative (SAAI) has approached the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, in a bid to overturn the ban on interprovincial travel for subsistence hunting purposes.
SAAI CEO, Francois Rossouw, says the application is filed on behalf of 368 game farm owners and operators who lost income due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
He says the Department of Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries had initially confirmed in a letter to SAAI that a person may travel across provincial borders for subsistence hunting purposes.
However, the department later published the amended Biodiversity Directives which removed subsistence hunting as a permitted service under the Level 3 regulations.
“This year, South African game farmers were unable to host international hunters, which resulted in a loss of approximately R2 billion in income. That is why we were relieved to receive the news that local subsistence hunting was allowed," says Rossouw.
He adds their data shows that approximately 88% of hunters hunt outside their province.
“And thus the prohibition on interprovincial travel was a huge blow to an industry that contributes approximately R12 billion a year to the South African economy,” adds Rossouw.
He believes that the latest regulations violate the constitutional rights of game farmers.
"It is extremely vague and was made in an irrational manner both decisional and procedurally," says Rossouw.
