WILDLIFE ANIMAL PROTECTION FORUM SOUTH AFRICA

A LETTER OF CONCERN DELIVERED TO THE DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE FEDERAL COUNCIL @helenzille @Our_DA “The EMS Foundation writes to you not merely as a civil society organisation, but as a participant in South Africa’s democratic project, one that is increasingly alarmed by what appears to be a profound and politically consequential shift within the Democratic Alliance (DA). At stake is not only environmental policy, but the DA’s credibility as a constitutional party, its claim to ethical governance, and its commitment to non-racialism, accountability, and the public good. A Party at Risk of Capture Serious allegations, emerging from conservationists, animal protection organisations, and within the DA itself, suggest that the party may no longer be acting independently in matters of environmental governance, but is instead advancing the interests of a narrow, well-organised lobby tied to wildlife breeding, hunting, and the captive lion industry. The removal of Minister Dr. Dion George, and the appointment of Minister Willie Aucamp in November 2025, has become a flashpoint for these concerns. Minister Aucamp’s explicit alignment with the Sustainable Use Coalition (SUCo) and Wildlife Ranching South Africa (WRSA) signals not neutrality, but political positioning in favour of consumptive wildlife industries. The appointment of South Africa's Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment on 17th November 2025 has drawn intense criticism for allegedly mirroring "state capture" tactics. The controversy stems from claims that he was placed in the role to serve minority private wildlife and hunting interests rather than the public mandate. Mr Aucamp has openly supported and aligned himself with the SUCo. For example in June 2025 social media post, Aucamp stated it was a "huge privilege" to address the Annual General Meeting of SUCo-SA, where he described their mission of "Driving Sustainable Use to Enable Biodiversity Conservation through Species Enhancement and Habitat Conservation" as a "noble one". However, his alignment with SUCo-SA, particularly with member organisations like the South African Predator Association (SAPA), has drawn criticism from conservationists and animal welfare groups, who have raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest due to the organisation's advocacy for the captive lion breeding and hunting industry. SAPA is currently engaged in legal action against the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) to compel the reinstatement of lion bone export quotas (case number 2024-146251). This raises a deeply political question: who is shaping DA policy, elected representatives accountable to the public, or private sector actors with vested financial interests? Equally troubling is the DA’s proximity, whether direct or indirect, to figures such as Steve Hofmeyr through SUCo and related platforms. Mr Hofmeyr’s record is well documented. It includes: Repeated racial generalisations about Black South Africans, The use of deeply offensive racial slurs, The promotion of the discredited “white genocide” narrative, Judicial commentary that his views “lend themselves to racism.” While not all such conduct has resulted in legal sanction, its political meaning is unmistakable.” READ THE FULL LETTER ✉️ emsfoundation.org.za/a-letter-of-co…

WAPFSA Comments on the proposed trophy hunting quotas for 2026 and 2027 wapfsa.org/wapfsa-comment…

The Slangkop baboon troop inhabits Kommetjie, OceanView and Scarborough areas of the Cape Peninsula they are managed by @TableMountainNP @CityofCT @CapeNature1 please urgently confirm that juvenile baboons have not been permanently removed from this troop?

ABALONE AND AUCAMP: THE PLOT SICKENS   On the 18th November the EMS Foundation made a statement, The Axing of Minister Dion George – The Democratic Alliance Shows Its True Colours, where we said that Minister George’s sacking raises urgent questions: −      Will Aucamp withdraw the state’s appeal in the rhino-horn case? −      Will the lion-bone export quota be restored? −      Will the captive lion industry gain new life? −      Will trophy-hunting quotas be rushed through? −      Will animal-wellbeing protections be gutted?   What we failed to ask was: will South Africa’s crucial Abalone Proposal, aimed at protecting endangered abalone from the illegal wildlife trade by uplisting dried abalone onto the CITES Appendix II listing (Prop.39), be mysteriously and without warning, withdrawn at the CITES COP20?   But withdrawn it has been by the South African delegation, leaving CITES Parties and conservationists concerned and flabbergasted. No other Proposal was withdrawn at COP20 that we can find record of.   In the same vein, we expect the trophy hunting quotas to be announced in the next few days, making the current litigation against the Minister moot and presumably saving the wildlife industry plenty of money in legal fees in the process.    Withdrawing a Proposal at the COP is not an easy process, and unlike previous instances where countries have withdrawn species proposals at CITES COPs, South Africa provided no public statement or explanation to fellow delegates despite the fact that Deputy Minister Singh was at the CoP20 conference.  There were 184 countries and the European Union represented, Deputy Minister Singh was one of only a handful of  government Ministers to attend the conference. Was it to negotiate the withdrawal of the Proposal?     Dr Dion George the former Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has issued a statement expressing the belief that he was fired as Environment Minister because of his stand against illicit wildlife trafficking.   The proposed uplisting of the South African abalone (Haliotis midae) to Appendix II the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to at CoP20 held in Samarkand in Uzbekistan at the end of November and the fist week of December, by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment was vitally important for combating the massive illegal trade driven by organised crime. “We will move to specifically list dried abalone on Appendix II poaching syndicates thrive on the illegal international trade in dried abalone, and this listing will close critical loopholes in global enforcement.” said Dr George.    The illegal trade also involves a variety of criminal activities, illegally poached South African dried abalone is traded for drugs by organised crime syndicates. This has devastated the social fabric of many coastal communities in South Africa.   READ THE FULL STATEMENT emsfoundation.org.za/abalone-and-au…

EMS FOUNDATION: PUBLIC STATEMENT Axing of Minister Dion George: the Democratic Alliance Shows Its True Colours “Environmental protection and the rule of law must walk hand in hand, justice for the people and justice for the planet. Our country is rich in biodiversity, but that richness has made us a target. Along our coasts, abalone poaching has become a global criminal enterprise. It strips our oceans bare and destroys the livelihoods of coastal communities. In our parks, rhino horn and ivory trafficking continues to fuel violence and corruption. Across our veld, captive-bred lions are raised for commercial hunting, reducing living creatures to commodities. These are not legacies worth defending. They are systems that must end.” These are the words of Dr Dion George, the former Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, representing South Africa at the Rio Declaration on Crimes that Affect the Environment which was endorsed by eighteen governments, international environmental and civil society organisations in Brazil on the 4th November 2025. When President Cyril Ramaphosa fired Dr Dion George as Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the official explanation was carefully scripted: “under-performance.” But the timing, the political choreography and the beneficiaries tell a far more revealing story — one that exposes the growing influence of wildlife-breeding and trophy-hunting lobbies inside government. George’s removal was not simply a cabinet reshuffle. It was a political execution. And South Africa’s wild life will pay the price. When Dr Dion George took over from Barbara Creecy, he did not retreat from her bold and much needed environmental reforms; he deepened them. He embraced the High-Level Panel recommendations, which called for the end of captive lion breeding, the phasing out of intensive rhino farming, and a shift toward ethical, ecologically sound conservation. He: Moved to shut down the captive-lion industry, pushing forward with the voluntary exit programme. 1. Set the lion-bone export quota at zero for 2025, effectively ending commercial trade in lion skeletons. 2. Confirmed South Africa would not back any attempt to reopen international trade in rhino horn or ivory. 3. Refused to issue trophy-hunting quotas for elephant, black rhino and leopard while a court case challenged the quota process. 4. Defended animal-wellbeing provisions in NEMBA. 5. Appealed the Kimberley High Court ruling that opened the door for exporting rhino horn from privately owned breeding facilities. And that made Minister George dangerous — not to the public, not to conservation, but to powerful private interests who have long treated wildlife as inventory. READ the full statement and background information emsfoundation.org.za/axing-of-minis…

Professor Kristen Stilt and Dr Montez Franceschini, Harvard legal scholars have joined the battle to free Lammie, Ramadiba and Mopane from the Johannesburg Zoo. “The City of Johannesburg continues to defend the elephant’s captivity in court a move seen as many as both fiscally irresponsible and ethically indefensible”dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-0…

A CRISIS IN MADIKWE? Or an excuse to hunt? EMS Foundation conducted its own onsite research but North West Province Department of Economic Development, Conservation and Tourism refuses to answer our PAIAS dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/20…

WAPFSA sent a cease and desist letter regarding the proposed removal of 121 baboons from the Cape Peninsula. @CityofCT @CapeNature1 @SANParks What a wild idea, one that should be swept off the table before forthwith. wapfsa.org/cease-and-desi…

“SA government continues to defend odious trade in tigers, perpetuating their suffering in captivity” a REALLY well researched, in-depth shocking article @emsfoundationsa dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-0…

Hugo Ras featured prominently in our Where Have All the Rhinos Gone Report in 2021. He is still awaiting trial for allegedly being involved with rhino poaching . He is however in jail for fraud. Did you know he was selling fake trophy hunting packages from the comfort of his jail cell? emsfoundation.org.za/trophy-hunting… @TheMikeBolhuis is the guy who investigated this scheme.

“violence against animals has been documented by extensive scientific research, linked to other forms of violence including direct and indirect domestic and gender-based violence, violence in the workplace + against children” ⁦⁦@TheCitizen_News⁩ citizen.co.za/rekord/news-he…

Baboons are victims of inexplicable hatred in South Africa and are widely considered as vermin despite their complex social structure and intelligence. @OwlRescue @NSPCA_SA @emsfoundationsa @BAT_S_A  wapfsa.org/baboons-need-t…

A petition initiated by a proud Motswana, a father, safari guide and a conservationist. chng.it/5nXjSmtBZj “Save Botswana’s Elephants: Protect the World’s Last Safe Haven” @WAPFSA @duma_boko

The EMS Foundation submitted substantial objections to the Department Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment proposed trophy hunting quotas for 2024 and 2025 which were acknowledged on Tuesday 17th December 2024. The objection included concern about the incoherence of the Government Gazette notice and a reminder that trophy hunting is rooted in colonial modes of extraction that perpetuates notions of abuse, subjugation, control and inequality, including gender inequality. emsfoundation.org.za/objections-fro…

WAPSA OBJECTS TO PROPOSED TROPHY HUNTING QUOTAS FOR ELEPHANT, BLACK RHINO AND LEOPARD 2024/2025 “13. In addition, because of the absence of the inclusion of the findings of the Scientific Authority …” read the submission: wapfsa.org/wapfsa-objecti…

WAPFSA has expressed their full support for the current Private Members Presentation Bill introduced by the Honourable MP David Reed wapfsa.org/south-african-…

@Our_DA are these violent attacks against residents not of concern? NEVERMIND that four baboons have been purposefully killed in Pringle Bay?

@emsfoundationsa @OverstrandMuni Baboon killers and vandals what a truly toxic combination.

BABOON AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATIONISTS TARGETED IN OVERSTRAND change.org/p/oppose-overs… @OverstrandMuni