Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

(1) The Honourable Member correctly highlights the extraordinary scale and sophistication of biodiversity crime in the Western Cape. Since 2018, authorities have seized huge numbers of illegally harvested indigenous plants and seeds. The volume of these illegal operations is evidence of a highly organised and transnational criminal economy targeting our unique flora.

While enforcement operations have yielded significant seizures and arrests, the Honourable Member is equally correct that the rate of high‑level convictions, particularly those targeting organisers, financiers and exporters, remains a critical constraint in dismantling these syndicates.

(a) Addressing this challenge requires a systemic, multi‑agency response across the entire justice value chain, from investigation through to prosecution and sentencing. The Department, together with its entity, CapeNature, provincial and national partners, is pursuing and supports the following key interventions:

1. Elevating environmental crime as organised crime

Environmental crimes, particularly plant poaching, must be consistently recognised and treated as serious organised criminal offences, not as minor or isolated regulatory infringements. There is a growing body of knowledge and evidence on these criminal syndicates, including their operations across borders on the continent and globally. This includes:

• Strengthening the application of legislation such as the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) to enable asset forfeiture and the targeting of syndicate leadership.
• Promoting investigative approaches that move beyond possession offences to racketeering, conspiracy, and financial flows.

2. Strengthening inter-agency coordination

Effective prosecutions depend on seamless collaboration between:

• CapeNature compliance and enforcement officials,
• SAPS specialised units,
• The Hawks (Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations),
• The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

To this end, the Department supports:

• The establishment and strengthening of joint operational task teams, and
• early involvement of prosecutors in complex cases to guide evidence gathering and case strategy.

3. Improving case quality and evidentiary standards

One of the key barriers to successful prosecution at higher levels is the quantity, quality and complexity of evidence required to prove organised crime. Interventions include:

• Specialist training for investigators, and
• The use of scientific and forensic tools.

4. Building institutional capacity within CapeNature

The Honourable Member will be aware that enforcement capacity has been under pressure.
In this regard, CapeNature has recently advertised two critical, long-standing vacancies (since 2023), namely:

• A Compliance Specialist, and
• an Enforcement Specialist.

These roles are specifically intended to:

• Strengthen regulatory oversight and compliance monitoring,
• Enhance investigative capability, and
• Improve case preparation to support successful prosecutions.

Filling these long-standing vacant posts is a priority intervention to ensure that cases entering the justice system are robust, well-supported, and capable of sustaining more complex prosecutions and that staff involved in these cases are properly trained, equipped and capacitated. While this is a positive start, there remains a growing need for additional human capacity owing to both the volume and complexity of these crimes. This deserves our consideration among our other priorities in our Province.

5. Training and sensitisation within the justice system

There remains a need to further sensitise prosecutors and judicial officers to:

• The ecological, economic, and international dimensions of biodiversity crime, and
• The seriousness of environmental offences as drivers of organised crime.

The Department supports engagements with the NPA and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to improve consistency in prosecution and sentencing outcomes.

(b) The Honourable Member raises an important policy question regarding specialised environmental crime courts and dedicated prosecutors.

Our position in discussion with CapeNature is as follows:

1. In principle support for specialisation

There is clear merit in greater specialisation within the justice system, particularly given:

• The technical nature of environmental legislation,
• The complexity of syndicate-driven cases,
• The need for consistency in sentencing.
• Dedicated environmental prosecutors or specialised court functions could:
• Improve conviction rates,
• Enhance case management efficiency, and
• Ensure more appropriate sentencing aligned to the seriousness of the offences.

2. Practical and jurisdictional considerations

However, the establishment of specialised courts falls primarily within the national justice system, requiring:

• Engagement with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, and
• Alignment with the National Prosecuting Authority.

At a provincial level, the Department would, therefore, need to:

• Actively engage with national counterparts to advocate for enhanced prosecutorial capacity and specialisation, and
• Support incremental, practical measures, such as the designation of prosecutors with environmental crime expertise within existing court structures.

3. Interim approach: targeted specialisation within existing systems

Pending broader structural reform, the Department supports:

• The designation of dedicated prosecutors for environmental crime cases, and
• The clustering of such cases within specific courts where feasible, to build institutional expertise and continuity.

Conclusion

Honourable Member, the Western Cape remains at the forefront of combating biodiversity crime, but the evolving nature of these criminal networks demands a more integrated and specialised justice response.

Raising the profile of environmental crime within the justice system, strengthening investigative and prosecutorial capacity, and exploring pathways toward greater specialisation, including dedicated prosecutors and potentially specialised court functions, are all necessary steps if we are to ensure that those who profit from the systematic destruction of our natural heritage face meaningful and appropriate judicial consequences.