COMMENTS ON DRAFT SOUTH AFRICAN ‘GAME’ MEAT STRATEGY

Comments submitted by the EMS Foundation on Friday 26th August 2022, in response to the invitation from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to comment on the Draft ‘Game’ Meat Strategy (“the Draft Strategy”).

The EMS Foundation is a South African social justice NGO. Our key purpose is to alleviate and end suffering, raise public awareness, empower, provide dignity and promote the interests of vulnerable groups, including wild animals. The EMSF also has a special interest in biodiversity. We support the five interrelated principles of social justice, namely: equity, access, diversity, participation and rights.

The EMS Foundation is cognisant of the entanglements of oppression and we are committed to the promotion of inclusive justice, showing compassion across species and working to build a better future for all through campaigns, research, analysis, advocacy and holding government to account. The EMS Foundation sees access to information, openness, accountability and transparency as the ‘oxygen of democracy’.

We welcome the opportunity to make these comments and trust that they will be of assistance to the Department and the Minister when they reflect on the Draft Strategy.

The EMS Foundation is committed to contributing to the improvement of wildlife governance and have the necessary skills and experience to enable us to do so. We look forward to engaging further with the Department and the Minister on matters related to the Draft Strategy.

We have attempted to be as comprehensive as possible, given the time, resources and other relevant factors and constraints, however we have not responded to every aspect of the Draft Strategy.

Based on all the risks and the direct negative ramifications for biodiversity, ecological restoration and animal well-being, the EMS Foundation objects to the draft strategy and calls on the Minister to withdraw it.

In addition, the Minister should also prohibit the intensive breeding for commercial purposes of any wild fauna, including the indigenous species of wild animals listed in the Animal Improvement Act.

The EMS Foundation submission and comments on the Draft Strategy is also endorsed by the following organisations:

  • African Climate Alliance
  • Animal Law Reform South Africa
  • Animal Rescue Unlimited
  • Animal Talk Africa
  • Baboons of the South
  • Ban Animal Trading
  • Beauty Without Cruelty (South Africa)
  • Betty’s Bay Baboon Action Group
  • Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education
  • Coalition of African Animal Welfare Organisations
  • Four Paws (SA)
  • Future 4 Wildlife
  • Global White Lion
  • Protection Trust
  • Justice for Animals
  • Monkey Helpline
  • Panthera Africa Big Cat Sanctuary
  • Parliament for the People
  • Rhinos in Africa
  • South Peninsula Khoi Council
  • Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI)
  • Southern African Fight for Rhinos
  • Vervet Monkey Foundation
  • Vogelgat Private Nature Reserve – South Africa

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