Swaziland unveils plan to legalise rhino horn to pay for anti-poaching efforts

Leaked document shows proceeds from the sale of 330kg stockpile would be used to protect country’s 73 white rhinos from poaching

Karl Mathiesen

Thursday 28 April 2016 16.40 BST

Last modified on Thursday 28 April 201620.57 BST

The kingdom of Swaziland has made a surprise proposal to legalise the trade in rhino horn in order to pay for anti-poaching measures.

In a leaked document addressed to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), Swaziland’s anti-poaching body said it wanted to sell the country’s 330kg stockpile of horn collected from naturally deceased animals and confiscated from poachers.

It said the sale to the traditional medicine markets of the far east would generate $9.9m, which would be used to protect the tiny landlocked country’s 73 white rhinos from poaching.

Swaziland proposed to sell a further 20kg each year, raising $600,000, by harvesting horn from living herds. Rhino horns regrow after being cut.

The Cites Management Authority of Swaziland, which made the proposal, said the 39-year-old ban on trading rhino horn had failed. It cited the poaching crisis in neighbouring South Africa, where 1,175 rhinos were killed in 2015.

“At present 100% of the proceeds from the sale of rhino horn are taken by criminals, while rhino custodians pay 100% of the costs of rhino protection and production yet they desperately need funds to cover these costs,” said the authority.

Analysis Can legalised trade save Africa's last rhinos from poaching?

A South African court decision to lift a ban on trading rhino horn has divided conservationists. In the race against poachers a solution must be found quickly – but the wrong decision could be catastrophic

Contacts directly involved in the drafting told the Guardian that they had formally lodged the proposal with Cites. It will now be formally discussed and voted on at the Cites Conference of Parties in Johannesburg in September. The bid is likely to fail, because the majority of parties have little appetite for a legalised trade, preferring to focus on dampening demand in the Asia.

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Jerichos attempt to ‘resurrect’ drowned man

MBULUZI - Six days after he disappeared into the Mbuluzi River, Sibusiso Mavuso’s family believes he is still alive and living underwater with a snake.

Yesterday they performed rituals to appease the snake so that it could release him. In perfoming the ritual, they threw a live chicken into the river and forced a live cow to also jump into the flooded river. About 60 people watched in awe as the Mavuso family performed ritualsto bring back to life the man who is believed to have drowned almost a week ago. The family are members of the Jericho Red Gown Sect.

Mavuso drowned while he had gone to pray at the river with his sister. Police scuba divers have been trying to locate his body since his disappearance but their efforts haven’t yielded fruit yet. The Mavuso family hails from Luhlangotsini, Pigg’s Peak in the northern Hhohho region. A man of the cloth who preferred to be identified only as Reverend Kunene performed the ritual. Explaining the logic behind the ritual, Sibusiso’s grandmother, Sarah Maseko, said they believed Sibusiso was still alive under the water.

She disclosed that her family believes Sibusiso was taken by a spiritual river snake she identified as inzuzufor an underworld internship for traditional healing (kwetfasa). She could not shed more details describing the snake except for disclosing that it (snake) is the king of the underworld and water (silo semanti)

She said the ritual was to appease the snake so that it released Sibusiso back to the family.

"Sibusiso is my daughter’s son. And my belief as a Jericho Zion Church member is that he is still alive under the water. He is under strict supervision of the king of the underworld and water (silo semanti) which we refer to as inzuzu. He is alive, we are certain of that. This ritual is to plead with the king of the underworld and water to release him back to us," said Maseko. Reverend Kunene flatly refused to respond to questions about the ritual.

More:  http://www.times.co.sz/News/83729.html