The Democratic Alliance (DA) will call for a joint portfolio committee meeting between the Department of Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) to discuss the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza’s proposed amendment of Schedule 1 of the Meat Safety Act 2000 to include threatened or protected species (TOPS).
The gazetted proposed amendment closed for public comment on 30 June 2020. We will submit parliamentary questions to DALRRD to establish the number of submissions received and the content of all submissions.
Minister of Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy revealed, in response to a recent parliamentary question by the DA, that at present, TOPS species such as elephant, rhino and giraffe, can be legally bred for economic purposes as long as the breeding facilities are registered as outlined in the National Environmental Management of Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) regulations. At present, the commercial-scale sale of meat of these animals are not legally included in these economic purposes. But this could change if the proposed amendment to Schedule 1 of MSA continues.
Since the proposed amendment has come to light, there has been wide-spread public concern regarding the potential commercial sale of TOPS species for consumption.
DALRRD issued a statement on the 30 April 2020 in an attempt to minimize the impact of the amendment might have by arguing that the “Meat Safety Act does not make any decisions on which animals are to be slaughtered” but “regulates how animals should be slaughtered”.
The purpose of MSA is unambiguous:
- it is to provide measures to promote meat safety and the safety of animal products;
- to establish and maintain essential national standards in respect of abattoirs;
- to regulate the importation and exportation of meat;
- to establish meat safety schemes; and
- to provide for matters connected therewith.
As per Minister Creecy’s response to the DA parliamentary questions, NEMBA regulations do allow for breeding of some TOPS species for economic purposes; however, it is DALRRD’s amendment to the MSA which will decide which of these animals can now be legally slaughtered for commercial sale and consumption.
DALRRD should take into consideration the numerous welfare concerns and wide-spread public backlash to the captive-bred farming of lions, an iconic TOPS species, for hunting and lion bone export, as well as the Department’s limited resources to regulate and exercise oversight over the captive predator industry. That they would even consider allowing an eventuality in which other threatened and protected species may be legally laid vulnerable to commercial-scale breeding for consumption, is ludicrous. This MSA amendment is a slippery slope from which it may be hard to recover as the captive-lion industry has demonstrated.
The proposed amendment has concerning and uncertain ramifications in the commercialisation of our wildlife which may prove a step too far. As South Africans we have a responsibility to act as custodians of our wildlife.
Click here to contribute to the DA’s legal action challenging irrational and dangerous elements of the hard lockdown in court