The Herald : News

Cycad smuggler caught with rare E Cape plants fined

A GAUTENG cycad smuggler has been sentenced to a R5 000 fine or five years’ imprisonment by a Queenstown court.

Magistrate Zwelityazusa Ngoqo handed down the sentence yesterday after telling Carel Ferreira, 46, that the Eastern Cape would not tolerate the theft of its natural wealth.

Ferreira, who comes from Randfontein, was arrested by police on December 4 in the Queenstown area, carrying 26 cycads in a truck.

Parts of the plants were missing, making identification difficult, but they are either Incephalatus altensteinii or princeps, both of which are endangered species, indigenous to the Eastern Cape area.

They are all over one metre tall and are estimated to be at least 100 years old, worth about R135 000.

Provincial nature conservation department spokesman Jaap Pienaar said yesterday that this figure related to the economic value alone and that the added environmental value of the plants would increase this figure substantially.

Ferreira was charged with transporting the cycads without a permit after arguing unsuccessfully that he knew nothing about his cargo and was doing it “for someone in Randfontein”.

The case was an unusual one for the Queenstown court and Mr Pienaar was called on to explain the environmental value of cycads and the dramatic increase in the illegal cycad trade in the province.

Mr Pienaar told The Herald: “This has happened despite years of environmental education and outreach programmes from us, as well as a microchip installation project.

“I said that if we don’t have the support of the courts, we may as well pack up office.”

In sentencing Ferreira, Mr Ngoqo said he had taken into account that the accused was unemployed, but said that making money from illegal activities would not be tolerated.

“God blessed the Eastern Cape with cycads and this province is not going to allow people from Gauteng to remove what nature has provided us.”

The cycads have been forfeited to the state.

Mr Pienaar said he and his team had hoped for a stiffer fine.

“But I think the case was important in that it showed that the police are becoming increasingly involved in environmental matters.This aid is greatly appreciated and is vital for successful environmental protection,” he said.

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