Open letter to DA to act on abalone poaching
Letter sent to:
John Steenhuisen, DA National Leader
Alan Winde, Western Cape Premier
Dave Bryant, MP, Western Cape DA Shadow Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment
Annerie Weber (Mpumalanga) – budget speech on environment
Hannah Shameema Winkler (KZN), budget speech on environment
Andricus van der Westhuizen, Provincial spokesperson on environment
DA fails marine protection dismally
The DA’s miserable attempt at debate in parliament on the Budget Debate on Vote 32: Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, refers.
As everyone else, it seems as if all three DA speakers, Dave Bryant (MP Western Cape DA Shadow Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment ), Annerie Weber (Mpumalanga) and Hannah Shameema Winkler (KZN), all preferred to get onto the bandwagon of rhino poaching, canned lion hunting and climate change. An easy trip to try to get some airtime and attention for their so-called environmental concerns. Not that these environmental crimes are to be ignored. But they are in the public eye, are generally getting more exposure in the media and is obviously “easier” to police and to talk about.
Not one of them, these three DA public representatives and supposed overseers of the marine environment, in this case, even mentioned the scourge of abalone poachers raping our coastline. Is the more than R5 billion (Traffic statistics) lost over the past more or less 10 years of no concern to you? Don’t you think that the revenue lost for South Africa through this environmental crime, which has now reached disastrous levels, is important enough to address on such an appropriate platform as the budget vote on the environment and fisheries?
Two weeks ago, two of the most prominent abalone poachers in the country were arrested transporting shucked abalone in a Porche Cayenne, which sells for approximately R1,4m. And were released on bail of R10 000 each. Frank Barends, one of the poachers, was released on a technicality in a separate poaching case in 2013 where abalone to the value of R2 billion was (allegedly) poached.
Since 2018 an estimated 3 836 tonnes of abalone were poached- estimated to be only 5% of all illegally harvested abalone. And the other 95%?
The estimated illegally poached abalone, whole mass, since 2018 amounts to 18 825 tonnes with an estimated value of R 5 559 550 005.
Are you, as members of parliament and the groups responsible for oversight of our natural environment, and in this case the marine environment, and specifically the abalone population of South Africa, not aware of these damning statistics? Or are you also just pointing fingers at national departments, environment, and SAPS, who is responsible for policing this crime?
This crime is taking place on your doorstep and is not being treated with the serious approach it warrants. The DA in the Western Cape has not allocated a cent to fight this crime in their provincial budget. Are you, as DA representatives for the environment, just going to let it go, not even mentioning it in parliament where it could have been brought under the attention of the national responsible ministers? Andricus van der Westhuizen’s belated response to the Barends arrest is a small drop in the ocean of marine crimes and not worth the paper it was written on.
Why are you continuing to turn a blind eye on abalone poaching? It is a crime of gigantic proportions – you do not need to be remined about that. But why is your silence about this crime deafening?
Community Against Abalone Poaching (CAAP)
May 2023