Poaching declared a priority crime

Writer: De Waal Steyn.

The fight against the scourge of illegal abalone poaching will be intensified after it was announced in the Western Cape Parliament last week that the South African Police Service (SAPS) would be reclassifying abalone poaching as a serious priority crime.

Although more than 400 suspects were arrested for the crime over the past year and police confiscated abalone worth at least R130 million in the Western Cape, natural stock of this delicacy keeps on dwindling as poachers brazenly ply their trade daily, in full view of the public.

The Democratic Alliance’s spokesperson on Environmental Affairs, Andricus van der Westhuizen said: “I’m glad that SAPS is finally taking this matter seriously in our ongoing fight to curb abalone poaching. This environmental crime is a concern as abalone extinction could have disastrous consequences for the entire country. The reclassification of this dire criminal activity in our province is a step in the right direction towards protecting the Western Cape’s delicate marine environment and our precious ocean resources,” he said.

Click below to read more. (Full article can be found on page 1)