Thesis (LLM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / Rhinoceros (Rhinos) are poached at an alarming high rate in South Africa. The 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), prohibited the trade of rhino horns amongst its member states. Even though there are existing pieces of legislation in South Africa to curb the killing and illegal trade of rhino horns, compliance authorities rarely impose stringent sentences on culprits caught poaching rhinos. There should be stringent enforcement of laws on poachers and if caught, perpetrators should be brought to justice in order to deter aspiring or ambitious would-be perpetrators. Amendment of legislation currently used in South Africa on rhino poaching cases, if applied vigorously, would be more developmental in curbing the scourge. The syndicate are highly skilled and well equipped for the execution of illicit poaching. It is in few instances that perpetrators are arrested and prosecuted. Even if arrested and prosecuted, lenient sentences are imposed upon conviction. The most noticeable lacuna in South African Criminal Justice System, is the lack of capacity and skills in investigations and successful prosecutions of rhino poachers. Worst still, despite frequent media reports on the alarming rate of rhino poaching cases, few arrests and convictions are reported. This mini dissertation looks at rhino poaching as an organised crime, and focuses on literature review, legal framework and regulations, as well as comparative study on legislation which can be used to prosecute the perpetrators of this organised crime. The discourse recommends amendment of legislation presently used to prosecute rhino poaching offenders, and advocates that they should be stringently applied in order to curb the scourge.

The illegal reptile trade quandary in the Western Cape province is strategically and chronologically addressed in this thesis with the implicit intention of revealing its gamut and underlying dynamics, developing a pragmatic, parsimonious and authentic conservation crime category with clearly delineated parameters, and formulating an integrated theoretical explanation regarding its aetiology that will adequately explicate herpetological, and hopefully also other forms of natural resource, crime and deviance. The thesis, by essentially transcending traditional, stereotypical edicts, throws new light on a severely neglected and underestimated form of natural resource exploitation, highlighting the need for reptiles, as the sentinels of the state of our environmental health to be preserved and perpetuated for, in the final analysis, the benefit of human kind. Through an essentially explorative enquiry, utilising an integrated qualitative -quantitative research approach, the concept of conservation crime, as a vanguard to an innovative and unified conservation criminology, is introduced in this thesis in the form of unambiguous adjunct of the mainstream criminological discipline. It is, furthermore, utilised as a conduit within the herpetological crime framework to enrich the criminological discipline as a whole, broaden its frontiers, promote effective and focussed intervention/mitigation initiatives, as well as stimulate interest for further investigation in this field. Fragmented, antiquated and nebulous legislation, deficient conservation and related role-player organisational capacity and inconsistent penalties, in concert with apathetic (and decidedly generic) societal attitudes and traditional pessimistic rubric regarding reptiles, emerge as fundamental proclivities impeding the effective intercession and management of the natural resources embodied in this sphere. Injudicious manipulation of the Western Cape's scarce and specialised reptile resources and the biodiversity ramifications such exploitation realises portend the intensification and diversification potential of such criminality. Conservation criminology, as developed and presented in this thesis, underscores the significant contribution this field of criminology can make in comprehending the illegal manipulation/exploitation of herpetological and other natural resources, expanding and enhancing its theoretical constructs and implementing justice through decisive, dedicated and holistic intervention programmes/strategies in order to defend the inherent right to the continued existence of all reptile species. / Crimonology / D. Litt et Phil. (Criminology)

The illegal reptile trade quandary in the Western Cape province is strategically and chronologically addressed in this thesis with the implicit intention of revealing its gamut and underlying dynamics, developing a pragmatic, parsimonious and authentic conservation crime category with clearly delineated parameters, and formulating an integrated theoretical explanation regarding its aetiology that will adequately explicate herpetological, and hopefully also other forms of natural resource, crime and deviance. The thesis, by essentially transcending traditional, stereotypical edicts, throws new light on a severely neglected and underestimated form of natural resource exploitation, highlighting the need for reptiles, as the sentinels of the state of our environmental health to be preserved and perpetuated for, in the final analysis, the benefit of human kind. Through an essentially explorative enquiry, utilising an integrated qualitative -quantitative research approach, the concept of conservation crime, as a vanguard to an innovative and unified conservation criminology, is introduced in this thesis in the form of unambiguous adjunct of the mainstream criminological discipline. It is, furthermore, utilised as a conduit within the herpetological crime framework to enrich the criminological discipline as a whole, broaden its frontiers, promote effective and focussed intervention/mitigation initiatives, as well as stimulate interest for further investigation in this field. Fragmented, antiquated and nebulous legislation, deficient conservation and related role-player organisational capacity and inconsistent penalties, in concert with apathetic (and decidedly generic) societal attitudes and traditional pessimistic rubric regarding reptiles, emerge as fundamental proclivities impeding the effective intercession and management of the natural resources embodied in this sphere. Injudicious manipulation of the Western Cape's scarce and specialised reptile resources and the biodiversity ramifications such exploitation realises portend the intensification and diversification potential of such criminality. Conservation criminology, as developed and presented in this thesis, underscores the significant contribution this field of criminology can make in comprehending the illegal manipulation/exploitation of herpetological and other natural resources, expanding and enhancing its theoretical constructs and implementing justice through decisive, dedicated and holistic intervention programmes/strategies in order to defend the inherent right to the continued existence of all reptile species. / Crimonology / D. Litt et Phil. (Criminology)