Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy has withdrawn regulations pertaining to threatened or protected terrestrial and freshwater species (TOPS) and the associated species list.
The withdrawal was published in the Government Gazette recently.
According to a government media release, Creecy sought legal advice on the coming into effect of the revised TOPS regulations and the species list after the Wildlife Ranching South Africa (WRSA) and the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa launched an urgent interdict application in the Gauteng High Court to suspend the commencement of the above-mentioned regulations and species list.
Gerhard Heyneke, the chairperson of WRSA, said in an interview with Landbou Radio that the list of protected species, which already included bontebok, mountain zebra, oribi and rhinoceros, had been expanded to include blesbok, wildebeest (gnu) and sable antelope.
The new animals were placed on the list to prevent inbreeding, which Heyneke said was impossible to prevent.
“The import and export of animals to neighbouring countries would have had to be accompanied by a DNA certificate and there are huge costs attached to this,” Heyneke said.
“Due to the urgent time frames of the litigation, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment required additional time to consider the varied issues raised in the court application. For this reason an out-of-court settlement was reached between the parties,” the department said on Wednesday.
In terms of the settlement agreement, the minister agreed to withdraw the revised regulations pertaining to threatened or protected terrestrial species and freshwater species and its associated species list.
The content of the TOPS regulations and species list are closely linked to the three government notices listed below. For this reason, the minister has also decided to withdraw the following government notices published in the Government Gazette, No. 47984, of February 3, 2023:
● Notice No. 3010: Revised national Norms and Standards for the Management of Elephants in South Africa.
● Notice No. 3011: Norms and Standards for the Trophy Hunting of Leopard in South Africa.
● Notice No. 3013: Repeal of the notice amending the alien and invasive species list and list of critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable and protected species and amendment of the commencement of the notice prohibiting the carrying out of certain restricted activities involving rhino horn, and the regulations pertaining to trade in rhino horn.
The withdrawn notices were set to have come into effect on April 1.
The department has affirmed that it is still committed to reforming the legislative framework in relation to the threatened or protected terrestrial and freshwater species.
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