COVID-19 Lockdown: Hunting regulations amended

… navigating through the COVID-19 predicament …

HUNTING REGULATIONS

amended

Dear employer

The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries has issued amended directives in respect of permitted hunting activities.

In terms of the new directives, hunting within a province is permitted with the proviso that the main purpose of such hunting must be to obtain meat for consumption. It is therefore only subsistence hunting as well as culling that is permitted under the new regulations.

Since hunting across provinces is not permitted and no accommodation may be provided for any hunting activities, the new directives effectively negates any possibility of hunting trips as these typically span over a number of days.

Despite these stringent measures being enforced on hunting, public transport vehicles are allowed to operate at full capacity, despite public transport posing a exponentially greater risk for the spreading of the virus than a small hunting party.
In a similar vein, shopping centers where thousands of people pass through every day, as well as churches and funerals, where up to 50 people may gather, surely contributes significantly more to the rapid spreading of the virus than hunting.

The decision by government is indicative of strong arm tactics and the bullying of an industry, or, at the very least, once again, points to a decision not being thought through properly.

There is simply no longer any rhyme or reason for these limitations as they will not and cannot curb the spread of the virus. We simply need to ride it out, applying cautionary measures which are not causing further harm to the economy.

Administrating a “cure” that will prove, in the long run, to be more harmful than the virus itself, is simply foolish and indicative of the so-called Command Council’s complete lack of understanding of the economic devastation and the suffering of millions of citizens..

Regards

We are all in this together.

Privileged and challenged to be South African.