Ruling on hunting permits creates uncertainty

The hunting of elephant, black rhino and leopard, as well as the exporting of such animals, have been brought to a standstill by a recent Western Cape High Court ruling in favour of the Humane Society International/Africa (HSI/Africa).

According to the ruling, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy and her department did not follow proper procedure in the gazetting of hunting and export permits for these animals.

Consequently, a temporary interdict had been granted against Creecy and officials from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), preventing the issuing of any permits for the hunting and exporting of these animals.

“The minister was also interdicted from publishing in the Government Gazette or in any other way [about] issuing a quota for the hunting and/or exporting of elephant ( Loxodonta africana), black rhino ( Diceros bicornis) and leopard ( Panthera pardus),” Albi Modise, spokesperson for the DFFE, told Farmer’s Weekly.

He said, however, this court decision was only ‘Part A’ of a two-part trial, and that the DFFE was working hard to have the second part of the court case heard as soon as was reasonably possible.

“Whether trophy hunting [and/ or exporting] of elephant, black rhino and leopard will continue in 2022 will depend on the judgment on Part B of the application.”

However, at the time of going to print, Leozette Roode, spokesperson for the HSI/Africa, told Farmer’s Weekly that the organisation was still awaiting the minister’s record of decision.

“We were supposed to receive it on 2 April. Once the HSI/Africa has received this, we’ll have two weeks to respond [to it], and then there will be a few back-and-forth steps

[to take] before the second part of the hearing will take place, most likely sometime in August.”

Wildlife Ranching South Africa (WRSA) had in the meantime been seeking legal advice on what the game industry’s position was in terms of the suspension of the permits.

Richard York, CEO of WRSA, said that at the moment the industry was in the unfortunate position of having to wait and see what the final adjudication on the matter would be.

“This case was not intended as a constitutional review of the applicable legislation, but rather [a review] of how the requirements of the law were administered by [Minister Creecy] in allocating the trophy hunting quotas for 2022,” York said.

“This discourages affected third parties, such as WRSA, from joining the litigation, where their only contribution would be to explain the financial impact of a review.” – Susan Marais