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S. African gov't committed to fighting poaching: official

Xinhua, November 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

The South African government is committed to fighting poaching, Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa has said.

The minister made the remarks on Thursday when responding to the arrest of 12 rhino poaching suspects earlier this week, including three police officers.

"The arrest is indicative of government's commitment to fight the ongoing scourge of rhino poaching in South Africa," Molewa said.

South Africa last year declared rhino poaching a "national priority crime" in South Africa and has launched a multi-sectoral campaign to fight it.

Molewa said the approach was successful as "we continue to register a number of successes in our fight against poaching, especially with regards to the dismantling and disruption of criminal syndicates."

South Africa has lost 749 rhinos between January and August this year, official figures show.

A record 1,215 rhinos were poached in the country last year. Endit