WILDLEX

The appellant was found guilty of hunting and killing one elephant without a licence and it was against that conviction that he filed the appeal in the High Court. The appellant had been convicted but the charge was defective in that it failed to disclose an offence.

This was an appeal against the rejection of a recusal application by a magistrate who was also charged with the administration or permits and licences under the Fauna Proclamation.

The court held that as an observer PW1 (a game scout) could only testify to the fact that the demarcated lines were ”cut” but not to whether they conformed with the Statutiry instrument. Thus PW1’s evidence is that of hearsay and inadmissible.

This is an appeal against the conviction and sentence of a fine of P100 passed by the Chief Magistrate at Francistown on 8th April, 1982 on a charge of failing to report a Government trophy contrary to section 82 (1) as read with section 82 (2) of the Fauna Conservation Act Cap 38:01 as amended by Act No. I of 1979.

The court held that in this matter, it was common cause that a South African Court had jurisdiction to decide ownership of the Sable based on the cession agreement. The court found that the cession agreement had been signed by the attorney, acting under the authority of the first respondent.

A simultaneous appeal and review was brought concerning the customary rights of the Dwesa-Cwebe communities to access marine resources in a marine protected area. An appeal was brought against the conviction and sentence of the accused for, among others, fishing or attempting to fish in a marine protected area.

This dispute concerns the ownership of a valuable herd of Cape Buffalo, which escaped from the Thomas Baines Nature Reserve in the Eastern Cape, a provincial nature reserve managed in the public interest by the appellant, the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency ("the Agency").

The court considered an appeal on the basis that the magistrate erred in denying the accused bail and that the magistrate erred in finding that the accused may abscond and fail to attend trial due to his ability to enter and leave the Republic without going through a border.

The appellant was found to have been complicit in the transaction where a fake rhino horn was sold in a police trap for R350 000. He was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. The appellant unsuccessfully appealed to the Free State High Court against his conviction and sentence.

The matter is an application for leave to appeal a judgement that was given in the a judgment of the Northern Cape High Court for contravening certain sections of the Nature and Environmental Conservation Ordinance 19 of 1974 which prohibit the harbouring of certain animals without a permit.