100 signatures reached
To: President Cyril Ramaphosa and DA Leader John Steenhuisen
A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE: REMOVE DFFE MINISTER WILLIE AUCAMP
South Africans deserve transparency, accountability, and ethical leadership especially when it comes to protecting our environment and national heritage.
The appointment of Willie Aucamp as Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has raised serious public concern. Mr. Aucamp’s documented associations with wildlife ranching, safari operations, and industries connected to trophy hunting create a clear perception of conflict of interest. Whether legal or not, these connections raise an unavoidable question:
How can a minister objectively regulate and protect biodiversity, wildlife, and natural resources while maintaining links to industries that profit directly from their commercial use?
This concern is not ideological. It is about governance integrity.
Conflict of Interest and Public Trust
Civil society organisations, environmental advocates, and animal welfare groups have already voiced alarm about:
· Links to wildlife breeding and trophy hunting enterprises
· Associations within the captive wildlife and game ranching sectors
· Alleged connections to mining interests
· The broader influence of commercial wildlife industries on environmental policy
Even where activities are legal, legality does not eliminate ethical concerns. A minister tasked with environmental protection must be beyond reproach. Public confidence depends not only on compliance with the law, but on independence from vested interests.
We therefore call for:
1. A full, transparent conflict-of-interest assessment regarding Minister Aucamp’s business interests and associations.
2. Public disclosure of all relevant financial and commercial ties.
3. Clear remedial steps, if necessary, to ensure decisions are made in the best interests of South Africa’s environment. Not private industry.
Why is this important?
Questions for Leadership
- Why was a candidate with direct links to the commercial wildlife sector considered suitable for this critical portfolio?
- What due diligence was conducted before the appointment?
- What safeguards are in place to prevent regulatory capture of the DFFE by private wildlife or extractive industries?
These are reasonable questions. They are not partisan attacks. They are matters of democratic accountability.
A Broader Concern
South Africa’s wildlife is not a commodity alone; it is a national treasure. Our biodiversity supports tourism, ecosystems, livelihoods, and future generations. The DFFE portfolio is not simply administrative. It shapes conservation policy, hunting regulations, mining approvals, and environmental protection frameworks.
Public perception already suggests that commercial wildlife ranching and extractive industries wield disproportionate influence in environmental governance. Appointments that reinforce that perception undermine trust in government institutions. Trust, once eroded, is difficult to restore.
Our Position
We have zero confidence that environmental decisions will be perceived as impartial while the minister has past or ongoing links to industries he is meant to regulate.
South Africa deserves an Environment Minister whose independence is unquestionable.
Our wildlife deserves protection free from portfolio exploitation.
Future generations deserve leadership that prioritises ecological integrity over profit.
We therefore call for:
· Immediate review of Minister Willie Aucamp’s appointment.
· Full transparency regarding his interests.
· Appointment of a minister with no financial or commercial ties to the sectors regulated by the DFFE.
For our wildlife.
For our environment.
For future generations.
For our environment.
For future generations.