26 July 2006The head of the visiting African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) country review team, Adebayo Adedeji of Nigeria, has praised the manner in which South Africa handled the peer review process, saying other countries could learn from it.For the past two weeks, the 25-member team has been holding consultations South Africa’s APRM governing council, government, parliamentarians, political parties, business, trade unions, civil society and faith-based organisations.This followed South Africa’s submission of its country self-assessment report and programme of action to the APRM secretariat.Helping Africa help itselfA voluntary self-monitoring tool adopted by the African Union in 2003, the APRM aims to promote the adoption of laws, policies and practices that lead to political stability, economic growth, sustainable development and the economic integration of Africa.The mechanism also seeks to improve the accountability of Africa’s leaders and to deepen the levels of trust and cooperation between governments and citizens and among different countries on the continent.Countries are expected to conduct self-assessments in line with APRM guidelines, with South Africa one of 24 countries that have submitted to the scrutiny. First to be reviewed were Rwanda and Ghana, which released their self-assessment reports in June.Once the reports are complete, countries are expected to produce a programme of action to address shortcomings revealed in the self-assessment process, and report on progress every three to five years.According to Public Service Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, the chairperson of SA’s ARPM council, the goal of the APRM is “to help Africans help themselves. To show ourselves and the world that we are not part of those whose mindset assumes that we need external assistance in order to grow.”SA praised for participationSpeaking to journalists in Pretoria on Tuesday after meeting with President Thabo Mbeki, Adedeji emphasised that the peer review process was a review of the country as a whole and not merely of the government.Adedeji said he was impressed that the scepticism about the process that was evident when he visited South Africa in November was “not there anymore.” He also commended South Africans for their level of participation in the process.“The process has the potential for government and the people to reach a consensus on many issues,” Adedeji said.“There is also a clear understanding that the peer review was not here to judge the government but to facilitate a process where all stakeholders sit down and ask: Where are we [as a country]? Where do we want to go? And how do we get there?”Adedeji emphasised that the process did not end with the country report, but that this was followed by the implementation of a national programme of action.Adedeji said his team’s report on South Africa would be finalised and presented by the end of September.‘We need to take it forward’Fraser-Moleketi said the process of creating the country’s self-assessment report and programme of action was credible “and the participatory process in South Africa is good – we need to take it forward.”Handing SA’s self-assessment report to the review team in Pretoria two weeks ago, Fraser-Moleketi said the report “notes the emergence of an enabling political and economic environment conducive to improving social cohesion and economic growth, transformation and empowerment.The report, she said, also draws attention to the important role of the developmental state, South Africa’s Constitution, and the value of having a people’s contract that unites citizens and civil society with the government and its elected representatives.“Poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment are still the three primary challenges facing our country,” Fraser-Moleketi said.“Improving access to rights and using them properly is a major area of agreement that needs to be taken forward in practical ways so that justice is really taken to the people.”President Thabo Mbeki, who witnessed the handing over of the report, said South Africa had been “hard on itself,” as the majority wanted to see a better country in all respects.“Some progress has been made to change the country for the better,” Mbeki told the review team. “However … we look forward to the [review team’s country] report and to what our peers will say about us, and what we need to do to improve ourselves.”SouthAfrica.info reporter and BuaNews Want to use this article in your publication or on your website?See: Using SAinfo material read more

This white rhino and her calf may soon find themselves on the poaching blacklist,if Ed Hern of the Rhino and Lion Reservehas his way.(Images: Luke Harwood) MEDIA CONTACTS • Hayley Komen  Communications, Endangered Wildlife Trust  +27 11 372 3600 RELATED ARTICLES • EWT making tracks in conservation • Raggies to help shark conservation • Wildlife poachers to be taken down • SA and Far East to discuss poaching • Big Five cat moves into new reserve Lyndon JafthaSouth Africa lost at least 19 rhinos within the first half of 2010. The situation is so critical that the South African National Defence Force has been deployed in various national parks in an effort to curb poaching.Now, rhinos have been equipped with the means to fight back. Ed Hern, owner of the Rhino and Lion Reserve in Kromdraai, near Krugersdorp in Gauteng, has come up with a plan to make the much-coveted horn less palatable.Hern caused controversy in 2010 when he was quoted as saying: “We need to try poisoning the horns with something like cyanide so when someone uses it for medicine they will die. I have started testing with a vet.”Not willing to be held responsible for murder, and on the advice of conservation body Endangered Wildlife Trust, Hern moderated his stance. Since then he’s been experimenting with non-lethal, but unpleasant ingredients to inject into the rhino horn in a desperate attempt to stop the butchering.The cocktail has been fine-tuned and tested in animals that were injected over 12 months ago and have shown no ill effects – only humans are affected.On 7 September the reserve’s Rhino Rescue Project announced that it will go ahead with injecting its chemical mixture into more horns. The news has been welcomed ahead of World Rhino Day on 22 September.The mixture consists of certain ectoparasitacides, that is, drugs that are designed to kill parasites that live on the exterior of the host.While the formulation is not lethal – which has prompted another storm of online comments from angered rhino supporters who would like nothing more than to see culprits slain – it will cause reactions such as convulsions and severe headaches.Add to that a neon pink dye, impossible to remove or alter, that will make the horn visible on airport x-ray scanners, and allow authorities to make arrests on the spot.Hern said in a statement: “A permanent solution would be to eliminate the demand for rhino horn altogether.”He added that education is key in convincing consumers – who come mostly from the Far East – that rhino horn contains no nutritional or medicinal value.But with 90% of rhino numbers decimated in recent years, a drastic and immediate strategy is called for, and Hern believes his strategy can offer this solution. The treatment, which lasts three to four years, will also keep parasites away.While some feel that the tactic won’t work on big reserves with large numbers of animals, such as the Kruger Park, it could be effective in private reserves which have only a handful of rhinos.Rhinos in crisisBy the end of 2010, more than 330 rhinos had been poached in South Africa alone. This is the highest number of deaths ever recorded.The International Union for the Conservation of Nature noted in 2009 that around 12 rhinos were poached in South Africa and Zimbabwe every month. By comparison, statistics showed that in other rhino territories such as India and Nepal, the toll in six months was 10 and seven respectively.Although gains have been made because of dedicated conservation efforts, especially in South Africa, the rhino population is not large, with three of the species listed as critically endangered.The worldwide population, at the end of 2010, was estimated at 25 045 in Africa and just 3 100 in Asia. South Africa’s count is around 18 800 white rhino and 2 200 black rhino.The magnificent animals face a very real possibility of extinction as levels of poaching increase.Killed for their hornsThe rhino, from the Rhinocerotidae family, occurs as five species. Two of these – the white and black rhino – are native to Africa, while the Indian rhino, Sumatran Rhino and Javan Rhino are native to Asia. The latter animal, one of the most engandered in the world, has the lowest population count of all the species, with just 50 individuals still alive.The much-prized horns are simply compressed keratin, a protein also found in hair and fingernails, and have no medical value. But this has not stopped people through the centuries from seeking it for ornamental or medicinal purposes.The ornamental use of rhino horn dates back to at least the seventh century AD, and today is used for this purpose mostly in Middle Eastern countries such as Yemen, where it is carved into elaborately designed knife handles.Many Asian countries believe that rhino horn not only cures ailments, but also acts as an aphrodisiac. This has never been scientifically proven.It is because of these erroneous beliefs that hundreds of rhinos are poached every year, and the number is climbing. Rhino horn has been known to fetch up to R430 200 ($60 000), per kilogram. read more