The South African Hunting and Game Conservation Association (SA Hunters) is horrified following an exposé on Sunday, 13 November by the Quatar-based Al Jazeera media house that State Security Minister David Mahlobo allegedly has very close links with a known rhino horn smuggler,  Guan Jiang Guang, a business man in Mbombela, Mpumalanga.

If these allegations are true, the South African authorities and its security establishment have betrayed the citizens of this country, the conservation community, and the corporate sector that have been doing everything in their power to protect rhinos against poachers.

“Government has a lot to answer for,” says SA Hunters’ CEO Fred Camphor. “We call for an urgent investigation into allegations that Minister Mahlobo and other government officials are allegedly associated with individuals involved in international wildlife trafficking, bribery and corruption. Ideally, the investigation should be led by an independent judicial commissioner that cannot be influenced politically or financially by anyone that is under suspicion of being involved in or associated with individuals allegedly linked to rhino poaching syndicates.”

He said vast amounts of donor funding, time and expertise have been invested through private sector initiatives to stop rhino poaching. The latest allegations of ministerial involvement with individuals involved in rhino horn crime syndicates fly in the face of game rangers that risk their lives every single day to stop the killing of rhinos. Many rangers have lost their lives in the rhino war, leaving traumatised loved ones behind.

General Johan Jooste, head of special projects at SANParks, confirmed last week that 21 poachers had been arrested in the Kruger National Park during the previous week. He said rhino poaching activities usually increase during this time of the year.

“The time to act is now. Any delaying tactics to investigate those who are implicated in wildlife trafficking will destroy what little trust remains in South Africa’s security establishment,” Camphor said.

SA Hunters with its more than 40 000 members is the biggest conservation association in South Africa. It has 76 branches nationwide that initiate and participate in local and provincial conservation activities.

In 2012, SA Hunters established Tinyarhi, a registered public benefit conservation initiative that raises funds among its own members for the protection and promotion of biodiversity in South Africa. It includes the Rhinos Alive campaign that has been donating funds towards the establishment of the RhODIS Rhino DNA database, based at the University of Pretoria’s Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at Onderstepoort. The RhODIS database assists in gathering forensic evidence to bring rhino poachers to book.

Issued by the SA Hunters and Game Conservation Association