{"id":849571,"date":"2026-02-03T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=849571"},"modified":"2026-02-03T16:33:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T14:33:42","slug":"another-new-mafia-is-thriving-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/849571\/another-new-mafia-is-thriving-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Another new mafia is thriving in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Organised crime syndicates operating in South Africa are increasingly targeting the country\u2019s natural heritage to cash in on a thriving high-value export business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These mafia-style groups target abalone, West Coast lobster, shark, reptiles, and even succulents, which are now worth more than rhino horn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is according to CapeNature\u2019s Senior Manager for Marine and Coastal Operations, Pierre de Villiers, who spoke about the new threat in an interview with BizNews<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While CapeNature is best known for managing nature reserves, protecting ecosystems, and promoting conservation-driven tourism, de Villiers said the organisation is now also on the frontline of a rapidly expanding biodiversity crime economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile we\u2019re also battling Western Cape summer wildfires, we are confronting a surge in biodiversity crime driven by organised syndicates treating the province\u2019s unique species as export commodities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to de Villiers, these syndicates operate in a highly coordinated, mafia-style manner, targeting both marine and terrestrial species for local and international markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Villiers said abalone remains one of the most lucrative targets. \u201cIf you look at the seaside, you\u2019re looking at abalone, and that\u2019s a very important product in the East,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a delicacy, and you\u2019ve reached a certain status in life if you can offer abalone as a dish in your house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

West Coast rock lobster is also heavily targeted, often for local markets rather than export. He explained that the syndicates are catching undersized lobster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey tail them, break the head off, and sell the tails locally. It\u2019s turned into a very lucrative market, but it\u2019s devastating for sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharks are another major concern. The fins are sent to the East for various dishes, and while some of the meat is used, the shark fins are exported, and that\u2019s the major problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While abalone and lobster are taken from relatively shallow waters, shark fishing often happens further offshore using longliners, complicating enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A target more valuable than rhino horn <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
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Conophytum ficiforme plants. Conophytums, a genus of small succulent plants endemic to Southern Africa, are in high demand among collectors worldwide.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

On land, the scope of illegal trade is even broader. \u201cBelieve it or not, cut flowers are a major illegal export commodity at the moment,\u201d de Villiers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While permits exist, he warned that illegal harvesting is widespread. Succulents from the West Coast and Karoo are also being stripped from the veld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou hardly even notice them when you walk past, but they are extremely valuable in the ornamental plant trade. Some species are now worth more than abalone and rhino horn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the Western Cape has fewer rhinos and elephants, de Villiers said the province still plays a key role in the broader wildlife trafficking network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnimals poached inland are exported from Cape Town Harbour and Cape Town International Airport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smaller endemic species are also targeted. \u201cTortoises, chameleons, these pretty little creatures are captured and exported for the pet trade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Villiers said the drivers behind the trade are complex and deeply linked to global trends. \u201cWhen people become wealthy, they start looking for ways to show their wealth off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe tragedy of poaching worldwide is that the rarer a species becomes, the more valuable it becomes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that South Africa\u2019s reduced intelligence capacity has made the problem harder to contain.\u00a0 \u201cDue to budget cuts, our finger is not on a lot of the pulses anymore, so we become reactive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The risk of extinction is real. \u201cThe danger is definitely there, but it\u2019s up to enforcement and managers identifying where species grow and waiting for the poachers,\u201d de Villiers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Overberg, CapeNature works closely with SAPS, fisheries officials, municipal law enforcement, and the SANDF through Operation Pakisa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a model that works. It depends on strong, transparent leadership and integrated planning.\u201d Despite significant seizures and arrests, de Villiers said success is measured differently at CapeNature.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re evaluated on keeping the animals in the water. We can say we\u2019re the best enforcement operation, but if the state of biodiversity report says there\u2019s no abalone left, then we\u2019ve failed,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mafia-style criminal groups have a new target in South Africa, and it’s worth more than rhino horn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":849602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[18849,2279,24655,1910],"class_list":["post-849571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-biznews","tag-cape-town","tag-capenature","tag-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849571"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":849657,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849571\/revisions\/849657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}