Two Eastern Cape policemen who worked in a court dealing with cases of perlemoen poaching were themselves arrested this week for allegedly plundering the endangered species.
Wayne Kuhn and Willem van der Mescht, both police sergeants, were arrested by the Eastern Cape perlemoen poaching task team on Sunday for the illegal possession of the shellfish.
The task team, which comprises senior police members and marine and coastal officials, was set up in February to fight the perlemoen poaching in the province. Willem Wilken, head of the task team, said his team arrested Kuhn and Van der Mescht.
Wilken said perlemoen poaching in the province was on the rise. On average police confiscate more than two tons of perlemoen and arrest between 30 and 40 suspected poachers every month, he said.
Kuhn and Van der Mescht are the first police officers to be arrested by the task team for alleged direct involvement in perlemoen poaching. The two worked as ”orderlies” in North End Magistrate’s Court — courtroom 20 — where most perlemoen poaching cases are handled.
Police are now investigating the possible involvement of Kuhn and Van der Mescht in the disappearance or mix-up of some perlemoen case dockets at the court in the past.
Kuhn and Van der Mescht appeared in court on Tuesday with a civilian who is accused of aiding the two. They were released on R800 bail each.
Wilken says poaching of perlemoen in the Eastern Cape is a major criminal enterprise and is controlled by ruthless syndicates. Most of the meat is exported to the Far East where, with other endangered and exotic species, it is considered a delicacy.
Some believe only a total ban on its export, similar to the ban on elephant ivory, can save the species from extinction. Scientists and police say perlemoen poaching on the South African shores has increased threefold in the past two years.
South African authorities confiscated around 370 000 perlemoen last year, compared to 100 000 in 1998. This massive increase is attributed to a continual rise in price for the shellfish.
The perlemoen trade has rocketed in value in recent years with growing demand from the Far East. In the 1980s a kilogram of perlemoen sold abroad for between R30 and R80. Now it sells locally for R300 a kilogram and in the Far East for up to R1 000 a kilogram.
Many people who have not been allocated perlemoen harvesting rights under a new allocation process have turned to poaching. Another problem for South African perlemoen is that more than 50% of the poached molluscs are undersized and have not reached reproductive maturity.
The adult perlemoen, which take eight to 12 years to grow, command the best prices. In South Africa it is forbidden to remove perlemoen that are younger than eight years.
The war between perlemoen poachers and the law is hotting up. This week Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Mahommed Valli Moosa told Parliament that the implementation of the steps to prevent illegal fishing was ongoing and gaining momentum.
Moosa said that on Monday the Scorpions made the biggest bust against perlemoen poachers of the year. The unit confiscated more than 15 000 perlemoen valued at about R1-million. At the same time, police from Brakenfell near Cape Town, confiscated more than 1 000 perlemoen.