23 OCTOBER 2019
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THE VILLAGE
NEWS
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Gansbaai resident Brenda du Toit happened upon these Satyrium carneum orchids, commonly known as the rooi trewwa or rooikoppie. These beautiful flowers are prolific in Franskraal near Gansbaai this year, after the devastating fire in January reduced most of the bush to ashes. With the fire season starting, residents are reminded to carefully watch any open fires and to not flick cigarette butts out of their car windows while driving.
Prioritise poaching crimes Writer De Waal Steyn
R
ecommendations to classify abalone poaching as an organised crime would make life difficult for poachers as they could then be prosecuted under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca), leading to much stiffer sentences.
This follows last week’s presentation of the Western Cape Police Ombudsman’s annual report to the provincial Standing Committee for Community Safety. In his report, Ombudsman Johan Brand gave feedback on a complaint of poor response by the SAPS at Overstrand stations – including
Gansbaai, Kleinmond, Hermanus and Stanford – particularly as it relates to the poaching of abalone. “I conducted an investigation concerning allegations that the SAPS in the Overstrand municipal area was unable to perform its mandate due to an insufficient allocation of resources, resulting in inefficiency of the delivery of services by SAPS in the area,” Brand stated in his report. (Read more on P5) With regard to abalone poaching, the report states that this type of crime was not regarded as a priority by the local police stations, nor was it classified as such at a cluster or provincial level.
Brig. Donovan Heilbron, SAPS Cluster Commander for the Overberg, said he welcomed the Ombudsman’s report as it highlighted the problems they must deal with daily. “The prevention of abalone poaching is not a short-term operation. If we want to make a difference, we need dedicated resources that include visible policing, detectives and a forfeiture unit. Once you start hurting the poachers financially, the tide will begin to turn. “If abalone-related crimes are listed as organised crime, we can investigate poachers and syndicates in terms of the Poca legislation and they can then be prosecuted under that
Act. Now we only respond to abalone-related incidents in terms of complaints, but if this were categorised as an organised crime, we would be able to be far more effective,” he said. Last week saw a lot of anti-poaching activity under the auspices of Operation Phakisa along the Overstrand Coast. Military helicopters and officers from a wide range of law enforcement agencies cracked down on poachers and, according to Heilbron, several vehicles and trailers were confiscated. “We also issued a number of fines and some of the confiscated vehicles could be linked to other cases where they were used in the commission of
a crime. This is not a short-term project and members of the public can be assured that we will continue to crack down on poaching-related activities over the long term, although we are struggling due to a lack of resources,” the Brigadier said. Heilbron added that he would welcome the opportunity to give evidence before the Standing Committee for Community Safety should they hold an inquest into the Ombudsman’s findings. “This will allow me the opportunity to state that the current state of affairs is not about poor policing, but about a lack of resources.” Continues on P3
