Law finally nabs abalone poachers

Atwo-year investigation spent tracking one of the biggest perlemoen poaching syndicates in Nelson Mandela Bay, followed by another two-year court battle has finally seen one of the masterminds behind the massive illegal trade jailed. Racketeering kingpin Morne Blignault was jailed for 20 years on Wednesday, with judge Dayalin Chetty drawing on the sheer volume of the perlemoen poached and the scale of the related illegal activities to make his decision.

A total of R373,456 units of perlemoen, weighing more than six tons and valued at R5.25m, were seized from Blignault’s farm. They were being prepared for export to China and Hong Kong.

Delivering his judgment, Chetty said: “The plunder continues unabated and the stage has been reached for appropriate sentences to stem the unrelenting poaching tide.”

Similar rulings and even harsher sentences for those running abalone syndicates elsewhere in the country have been handed down.

Last year, the Khayelitsha regional court sentenced four men to a combined 127 years’ imprisonment for being in possession of abalone valued at R20m, exporting and processing it as well as for fraud and money laundering.

It may be argued that some criminals get lesser jail time for “more serious crimes” such as rape and murder.

However, the problem with running the type of network that Blignault had set up is that organised crime has far-reaching consequences.

It sponsors anarchy, and draws the and young and jobless into the criminal underworld.

It is easy money for gangsters needing the loot to buy weapons.

The police and state prosecutors must be applauded for nabbing someone at the very top.

It might not make a difference to putting an end to the illicit trade – which costs SA R628m a year – but it sends a strong message that when enforced effectively the law will eventually hold them accountable.