The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) cautiously welcomes and supports the release of the report by the High-Level Panel (HLP) “to review policies, regulatory measures, practices and policy positions that are related to hunting, trade, captive keeping, management and handling of elephant, lion, leopard and rhinoceros.”
 
The IFP has been campaigning against the issue of captive-bred lion hunting since 2014, and IFP MP, the late Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, addressed the first Global March Against Canned Lion Hunting in March 2014. The issue has since been taken up and championed by Narend Singh, the former KZN MEC for Environmental Affairs and current IPF MP and Spokesperson on Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries.

Hon. Singh facilitated viewing of documentary Blood Lions for the parliamentary Environmental Portfolio Committee, which was then chaired by late Hon. Jackson Mthembu, who later ascended to being Minister in the Presidency.
 
The IFP has consistently applied pressure on government regarding the issue of captive-bred lion hunting, and we therefore view the HLP Report as a step in the right direction.
 
However, we believe that much work is yet to be done, with nuances within the Report that need to be interrogated so as to ensure that this inhumane and barbaric practice is not just given a new moniker and allowed to continue. The IFP therefore looks forward to asking more questions once the HLP Report is tabled in Parliament.

Issued by IFP