megan carr

“The case of Lammie, Ramadiba and Mopane — the three African elephants being kept at the Johannesburg Zoo under reportedly distressing conditions — is a deeply tragic one. In 2019, Ramadiba and Mopane were transferred from captivity in the Eastern Cape to the Johannesburg Zoo, where reports now indicate that they are displaying signs of distress, frustration and listlessness associated with prolonged confinement and unnatural living conditions. The environment does not speak for itself, and if we as human beings fail to act as its custodians, we risk accelerating the destruction of species, ecosystems, rivers, forests and oceans that future generations will depend on. As renowned activist Jay Naidoo has noted, elephants carry deep cultural and spiritual significance across many traditions, including among South Africa’s diverse peoples. This is why ActionSA would support any lawful and appropriate legislative or legal intervention — including the matter currently before the courts concerning the Johannesburg Zoo — that advances the dignity, humane treatment and long-term preservation of South Africa’s invaluable wildlife heritage. ActionSA remains concerned that sections of government are increasingly failing in their duty to protect South Africa’s rich environmental and wildlife heritage, too often allowing commercial interests and institutional convenience to take precedence over ethical conservation and animal welfare. ActionSA is actively engaging with environmental stakeholders, conservationists and concerned South Africans as we work to table an updated version of our already first-in-class environmental policy. South Africans deserve a clear understanding of which political parties are genuinely committed to protecting our wildlife, oceans, mountains and forests — and which continue to neglect the constitutional responsibility to preserve them for future generations.” — Alan Beesley MP, ActionSA Member of Parliament – at Johannesburg, South Africa

The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum of South Africa (WAPFSA) Lodged an Official Complaint with the Democratic Alliance Federal Legal Commission 10th November 2025 “The Democratic Alliance leader and Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen has publicly proposed that Mr Willem Aucamp, National Spokesperson of the Democratic Alliance, replace Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George. Members of the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (WAPFSA) are hereby raising an official complaint with regards to this proposal. In our view, Mr Willem Aucamp’s private interests could influence the state’s decision-making to his own advantage, by shaping laws to benefit himself. In June 2025, WAPFSA founding member EMS Foundation, raised concern about the ambiguous and contradictory messages created by the Democratic Alliance with regard to the highly contentious issue of the captive lion industry. Given the above, of deep concern was the fact that Mr Willie Aucamp, the National Spokesperson for the Democratic Alliance and Desiree van der Walt attended the Annual General Meeting of the Sustainable Use Coalition of South Africa (SuCO) at Mabalingwe in Limpopo in June 2025. This was not in their personal capacities. Willie Aucamp, stated in on his social media platform that he was privileged to address the Annual General Meeting of the Sustainable Use Coalition of South Africa (SUCo-SA) at Mabalingwe. Mr Willie Aucamp, is proudly, explicitly and publicly aligned with South Africa’s hunting and wildlife breeding, including genetically modifying species, specifically for trophy hunting. His family have interests in the hunting and breeding of wild animals for profit. Aucamp’s clear alignment with this specific sector which vociferously supports the agriculturalization of biodiversity makes him an entirely inappropriate candidate for Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment as it stands in stark conflict with South Africa’s environmental legislation and policies as well as international Treaties to which South Africa a Party. Noting that The Public Service Commission Act clearly states that a "perceived conflict of interest" is where a public official is in a position that appears to be influenced by his/her private interests when doing his/her job." If Aucamp is appointed there will be a clear situation in which a public official has a private interest which influences, or appears to influence a public decision. Moreover, given that his family will likely benefit commercially from decisions that benefit captive breeding and hunting it may constitute corruption in terms of theThe Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) 12 of 2004. We also draw your attention to section 195 of the South African Constitution which sets out the basic values and principles that govern public administration. Services must be provided impartially; fairly; equitably and without bias. Undermining the independence of key departments such as the Department of Foresty, Fisheries and Environment for private or factional gain and/or advancement will severely damage public trust and confidence in government and the political system as a whole”. EMS Foundation is a member of WAPFSA

PARLIAMENT MUST ENFORCE ITS OWN RESOLUTION: END THE CAPTIVE LION INDUSTRY NOW   South Africa stands at a constitutional, ethical and political crossroads.   Eight years ago, Parliament resolved that captive lion breeding and the lion bone trade should be reviewed with a view to ending the practice.   Cabinet reinforced this direction in 2024 by approving a revised Policy Position explicitly committing to close captive lion breeding for hunting and the lion bone trade .   Yet today, commercial exploitation of captive lions continues. This is not a policy gap. It is an implementation failure.   PARLIAMENT SPOKE CLEARLY IN 2018 Following the 2018 Colloquium on Captive Lion Breeding in South Africa, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee found that the industry: •Has no conservation value •Damages South Africa’s conservation image and tourism brand •Raises serious systemic animal welfare concerns The Committee directed that: •Policy and legislation be reviewed with a view to ending the practice •A full audit of facilities and lions be conducted •Welfare and health concerns be urgently addressed •The Department report quarterly to Parliament on progress   This was not symbolic. It was a formal parliamentary directive.   Eight years later: •No complete, independently verified national audit is publicly available •No transparent quarterly reporting record exists •No legally enforceable phase-out timeline has been published •No clear welfare plan exists for thousands of lions currently in captivity   Parliament must now ask: Has its own mandate been ignored? CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES CANNOT BE DEFERRED Section 24 of the Constitution requires the state to secure ecologically sustainable development while protecting the environment for present and future generations. The Constitutional Court has recognised that animal welfare is constitutionally relevant within environmental protection jurisprudence. An industry that: •Lacks conservation benefit •Systematically exploits animals •Harms the national conservation brand cannot be rationally defended under sustainable development principles. Continued tolerance of the captive lion industry is constitutionally suspect.   THE LION PROHIBITION NOTICE: A FIRST STEP - NOT THE END Government announced in July 2025 that it was advancing a Lion Prohibition Notice to ban new captive lion breeding facilities and cub petting operations . Parliament has now approved the Regulations and Draft Lion Prohibition Notice.   The EMS Foundation welcomes this critical first step. But let us be clear: •Limiting new facilities does not close existing ones. •Policy positions do not automatically become enforceable law. •Administrative engagement with provinces does not equal implementation.   Without binding regulations, audits, enforcement action, transition funding and transparent timelines, the industry continues. THE DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE POLITICAL CAPTIVE LION INDUSTRY DILEMMA The issue has become politically charged. Serious concerns have been raised about potential political conflicts of interest and policy reversals. Regardless of cosy relationships, alignment with wildlife and hunting industries and party politics, one principle must prevail: Parliament’s 2018 resolution remains binding in spirit and intent. Wildlife governance cannot shift with political tides. It must be anchored in constitutional duty, scientific integrity and ethical governance.   THE OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS PARLIAMENT MUST NOW DEMAND ANSWERS TO Parliamentarians must urgently require the Minister and Department to provide: 1A verified, independently audited number of all captive lion facilities and lions, disaggregated by province. 2A legally binding, time-bound phase-out framework for commercial captive lion breeding and associated trade. 3Public quarterly implementation reports as originally mandated. READ FULL STATEMENT: emsfoundation.org.za/parliam…

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-o…

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…

A life behind bars: The silent suffering of South Africa’s zoo animals iol.co.za/lifestyle/2025-06-… #TowardsFreedomJohannesburgZoo @AnimalLawReform @enviro_lawyers @IOL @SABCNews @ProEleNetwork