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17 November 2008

Programme director
President and members of the Professional Hunters' Association of South Africa (PHASA)
Government officials
Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Thank you for the invitation, and indeed it gives me great pleasure, on behalf of the Eastern Cape Provincial Government, to welcome you to our beautiful province. The people of the Eastern Cape are blessed with an extremely rich and varied cultural and natural heritage, of which we are extremely proud. Not only does our province have this rich natural heritage, but also an unusual high diversity and number of habitats and species, representing seven of the nine biomes recognized in South Africa. So, yes, we are extremely proud of the biodiversity riches of the Eastern Cape.

It has been brought to my attention that you held your convention in 2005 at this same venue, thus proving beyond doubt your love for the Eastern Cape. I also understand that this year, and on the occasion of this convention, you are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Professional Hunters' Association of South Africa. I wish to congratulate you for this achievement, and for your loyalty to your cause.

Government recognises and applauds the important role played by PHASA in assisting and ensuring that ethical hunting in South Africa is promoted, and I also wish to commend your collaboration with the Safari Club International (SCI) in ensuring that these objectives are met. I am aware that each year, the majority of the active Professional Hunting outfitters in the Eastern Cape attend the SCI conventions to do their marketing.

In my previous portfolio, I observed with appreciation the assistance that some of your members in this province were willing to provide, and actually provided, in capacitating the interns who were specifically appointed by the department to assist with the implementation of the new, and perhaps a bit cumbersome, Threatened or Protected Species Regulations (TOPS).

We had to this because I have also noted with pride that our province has, at least for the past few years, been one of the largest and favoured hunting destinations in South Africa. This has ensured continuous growth of the hunting industry as well as tourism, and thus contributing to the growth that our provincial economy has been experiencing.
Compared to other provinces, the Eastern Cape handles a substantial number of professional hunting trophy export permits.

Programme director, ladies and gentleman, I do not think there is any doubt that professional hunting has done well for wildlife conservation in South Africa. It has seen millions of hectares being reclaimed from domestic farming and put down to conservation. Not only have the species benefited, but the entire biodiversity management. Even predators such as leopard have benefited from trophy hunting. The increase in game farms has also provided a springboard to many other tourism ventures like the hiking trails and lodges.

However, I also believe that this industry has a lot more to offer in terms of educating and developing our communities because, as we know, professional hunting has not won the support of the black majority in our country. It is one such industry that government wants to be involved in for the benefit of all South Africans. Hunting must be understandable and acceptable to our people; it must address their development needs, otherwise it will bear no relevance to them and they will oppose it. Similarly, we must act together to rid the industry of the criminal elements that can only serve to destroy its otherwise good reputation and image.

In fact, sometime earlier this year, I attended a provincial land summit, and amongst concerns raised, was the issue of the many hectares of land of game farms (in other words, for animals) whilst people were suffering from land deprivation and dying of hunger, and the summit was calling upon government to intervene. This is a huge challenge for all of us.

I am excited to note though that PHASA has initiated a programme to incentivise members to empower and contribute to PHASA's empowerment efforts. With government, let us identify empowerment opportunities within the industry for the development and upliftment of a broad base of the disadvantaged people of this country. I believe that both government and the industry players have an interest in ensuring and securing the sustainability of the hunting industry.

Precisely for this reason, it is absolutely essential that provincial governments and the people we seek to represent are not spectators with the wealth of wildlife heritage in their possession, but are part of and share in this growing industry. The provincial reserves and community land hold much value that can be developed through professional hunting.

As provincial government, we have an obligation to promote rural development, poverty alleviation and service delivery. The Department of Economic Development And Environmental Affairs, mandated, amongst others things, to manage environmental issues in this province, has seen the need to raise awareness and stimulate participation through stakeholders engagement into environmental sustenance and community development. We hope that this initiative will go a long way in contributing towards addressing the challenges of poverty and under-development in our local communities.

We are fully conscious though that without your contribution and partnership, this cannot be achieved. Together, we need to make efforts to achieve sustainable human development by assisting in building capacity to design and carry out development programmes in poverty eradication, employment creation and sustainable livelihoods within this industry. Without hesitation, I therefore appeal to members of PHASA, individually and collectively, to assist the Province of the Eastern Cape and other provinces, through the relevant environmental affairs departments, to ensure that we do not fail in our dream of a better life for all.

In conclusion, Programme Director, I have noted that your programme over the next few days includes interesting and important issues of discussion. We shall await the outcome of these deliberations, and look forward to continuous engagement and ongoing partnership with you.

On behalf of the government and people of Eastern Cape, I wish you success in your deliberations, and I trust that you will enjoy the few days you will spend on our beautiful coast.

I hope you have already secured your bookings for your summer holidays; if not hurry up, the Eastern Cape is beckoning!

Ladies and gentlemen, you are welcome.

I thank you

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
17 November 2008
Source: Office of the Premier, Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecprov.gov.za/)