A group of Cape Town ‘bush doctors’, who illegally collected protected plants for medicinal use without permits, were given suspended sentences, reports Mail&Guardian.
They sell an array of roots, stems, and leaves which are boiled, steamed, or turned into tinctures to provide relief from common ailments. During the pandemic, people with Covid-19 have sought their remedies for relief of some of the symptoms associated with the virus.
The plants were harvested from a CapeNature reserve in Durbanville, Cape Town. Police nabbed them and confiscated nearly 875 Tulbaghia capensis plants in their possession. Tulbaghia capensis, or wild garlic, forms part of the Amaryllis family and is listed as protected flora under schedule 4 of the Nature Conservation Ordinance 19 of 1974.
Ashwin Fortuin, Aubrey Andrews, Edmund Cloete, Leroy Vosloo and Ronald Adams were released on bail after four days in police custody, and then subsequently found guilty of contravening the ordinance by being in the possession of protected flora without documentation.
If they are caught with protected flora in the next five years, they face 12 months’ imprisonment and a fine of R2 000 each. Adams said future plans included a possible ‘academic course’ that would assist the group in obtaining a permit to harvest plants legally.
Full Mail & Guardian Online report (Open access)
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