Cabinet has approved the development and submission of a proposal by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to the seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), to lift the ban on international rhino horn trade and introduce it in a regulated format, Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said on Wednesday.

The conference is set to take place in South Africa in 2016.

The Minister noted that discussions relating to regulated trade in rhino horn as an integral part of South Africa’s long-term conservation strategy for rhinos were initiated at the sixteenth COP to Cites this year.

“The ongoing illegal killing of rhino has highlighted the need to take action in terms of addressing demand for rhino horn.

“The establishment of a well-regulated international trade could assist in this regard, if implemented in conjunction with all the other interventions to curb rhino poaching,” Molewa said.

She said the DEA would work in partnership with stakeholders and experts to ensure a feasible model for trade was proposed at the next COP.

“Our appeal is that this should not be viewed in isolation from all our endeavours to save our rhinos,” the Minister highlighted.

Rhino conservation measures implemented by the government included amended legislation with the aim of strengthening the regulatory and enforcement provisions directed at curbing poaching.

Legislation compels the national registration of professional hunters, hunting outfitters and trainers involved in the hunting industry. It prescribes that all specimens in transit through the country must be accompanied by the necessary documentation. This important provision would assist in addressing the movement of illegal specimens.

In December last year, Molewa had also signed a memorandum of agreement with her Vietnamese counterpart Cao Duc Phat to collaborate to curb rhino poaching.

“South Africa cannot continue to be held hostage by the syndicates slaughtering our rhinos. We do have the ability to make this scarce resource available without impacting on the species, through the implementation of a regulated trade system. In addition, this will assist us in further promoting the conservation of the species and growing the population in South Africa and other range States,” the Minister said.

Since the beginning of the year, 461 rhino have been poached in South Africa. Last year, 668 had been slaughtered.