In September 2025, South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George paused the CITES export quotas for elephants, rhinos and leopards due to ongoing legal challenges, sparking industry outrage over potential losses in revenue.
Dr Dion George was removed from his position in November 2025. Former Democratic Alliance National Spokesperson Mr Willie Aucamp was appointed as the new Minister of the Environment recommended by Democratic Alliance leader Mr John Steenhuisen despite concerns about a possible conflict of interest especially with regard to trophy hunting and game breeding.
Minister Willie Aucamp reversed Dr Dion George’s decision in February 2026, with a proposal to reinstate trophy quotas for 2026/2027.
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It is incumbent on Minister Willie Aucamp to provide substantive and motivating reasons to permit the trophy hunting and export of TOPS listed species.
In the absence of such reasons, the decision to reinstate quotas for these species is susceptible to legal challenge on the grounds that it fails to give effect to the precautionary principle enshrined in section 2 of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA), and is inconsistent with South Africa’s obligations under CITES to ensure that exports are not detrimental to the survival of the species.
The DFFE Gazetted Notice dated 6th February 2026 in our opinion, fails to include robust information on, among other things:
(a) how the trophy hunting of the three species fulfils the duty to protectthe environment in terms of Section 24 of the Constitution, read with section 2 of NEMA and section 57 of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004 (NEMBA);
(b) the rationale for selecting these three species for trophy hunting;
(c) how the quota quantities are determined and
(d) the distribution across the provinces;
(e) the economic benefits of trophy hunting in relation to the three species concerned, and precisely how the local communities will be benefitting;
(f) the welfare implications of the animal being hunted.
The inclusion of a definition of “well-being” in the NEMBA through the 2022 amendments has created a significant legal and ethical conflict with the trophy hunting industry in South Africa. The 2022 amendments to NEMBA define well-being as the holistic circumstances (physical, physiological, and mental health) that allow an animal to thrive.
WAPFSA argues that killing an animal for sport, often targeting prime, healthy, or endangered individuals, is inherently incompatible with the “holistic well-being” of that animal Where the DFFE authorised trophy hunting of TOPS-listed species, it must demonstrate how such authorisation is consistent with the well-being objectives embedded in NEMBA. No such justification has been provided in the GN of 6 February 2026.
WAPFSA members respectively request that its comments receive substantive consideration. We request that once the DFFE has reviewed all comments received, that a comments and responses table be made publicly available, evidencing the manner in which all Stakeholders’ comments were evaluated and analysed by the DFFE.
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