The need for harmonisation of wildlife crime laws in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) A case study of the illicit abalone trade

The illicit wildlife trade (IWT) is the fourth most lucrative form of organised crime globally (Donnenfeld & Aucoin, 2017:1). The Global Financial Integrity (GFI) reports that IWT is one of the most profitable and illicit economies with a profit margin of US$ 23 billion annually (May, 2017:np). It has developed into one of the most expensive security challenges. Affecting a broad range of plants and animals, the illegal trade in wildlife deprives nations of their biodiversity, income opportunities, natural heritage and capital (Nowak, 2016:1). Although governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and locals have sought to protect wildlife in the past, entire species of animals and plants are still in danger. To complicate matters, wildlife crime is no longer nationally bound and has moved to a highly sophisticated and a transnational problem (Steyn, 2017:np). Wildlife criminal syndicates exploit weaknesses in neighbouring countries criminal justice systems and porous borders amongst other elements making it easier for the crime to be transboundary in nature (Pienaar, 2014:2; Steyn, 2017:np), through loopholes derived from inconsistent neighbouring countries’ wildlife laws. This is due to each country listing country-relevant species and developing legislation suitable to their needs. However, the dynamics of wildlife crime being transnational and perpetrated by organised criminal networks cannot only be dealt with at a national level, as this may aid in the exploitation of wildlife crime laws and the above-mentioned loopholes (Warchol & Harrington, 2016:25). IWT has become a serious and global problem and has developed into a well organised criminal activity, involving multiple TCN’s. Its clandestine nature, coupled with it being deemed as a low risk crime has allowed it to extend into other forms of TOC’s in the SADC region. South Africa’s abalone crisis has moved from a national wildlife crime to that of a regional one. This is as a result of the TCN’s being involved in the poaching and smuggling of the marine mollusc at a rapid rate. Furthermore, East Asian criminal groups in collaboration with local Cape Flats gangs have successively used the illicit abalone trade to facilitate the drug trade in Cape Town. Although great efforts have gone into the protection of wild fauna and flora there the low risk of detection and weak deterrence due to low penalties in neighbouring SADC countries aid in the illicit trade. International regulatory frameworks such as CITES have undoubtedly been a key factor both in terms of raising awareness and developing collective responses and strategies to control the wildlife trade. However, like that of CITES, most international and regional treaties are only regulatory and require domestic laws to regulate the regional trade in endangered species. Ultimately, what is required is a domestic consensus in neighbouring countries laws to stop IWT