Tables turned on poachers

CAPE TOWN -- A special task team established to crack down on perlemoen poaching in the Western Cape was yesterday given two high-tech rubber dinghies which were confiscated from poachers.

Welcoming the move Western Cape Safety and Security MEC Leonard Ramatlakane said the latest acquisitions would help in the fight against poaching, which he said would be "a thing of the past".

The Justice Department said a special court in Hermanus dedicated to hearing only poaching cases would start operating on February 1 next year. -- Sapa