South Africa votes against moratorium on ivory ban

South Africa, along with the rest of the southern African countries at a global wildlife (CITES) conference in Thailand, voted against Kenya's proposal to place a 20 year moratorium on ivory trading. South African delegate and environmental affairs and tourism ministry deputy director general attending the conference, Fundisile Mketeni, confirmed that South Africa voted with other southern African members at the talks.
Kenya, which was backed by the European Union, failed to get two-thirds of the votes needed at a meeting of the body charged with regulating the international multibillion-dollar wildlife trade. "There was a high percentage of abstinence by the delegates. But the European and several west African countries such as Mali, Senegal and Côte d'Ivore supported Kenya," Mketeni described. Southern Africa Development Community countries voted against the proposal. (Business Day, Johannesburg)