Unitrans Volkswagen is justifiably proud to announce their donation to the Unite against Poaching fund stands at a magnificent R 6 Million.  This phenomenal contribution which is assured to fight rhino poaching within the SA National Parks comes from the company’s bottom line and is related directly to motor vehicle sales (both new and pre-owned) made within the Unitrans Volkswagen group  of dealers.  Unitrans Volkswagen in co-operation with the SANParks Honorary Rangers, ensures that every cent of this bequest is used to fight poaching and that no funds are used for administration purposes. Unitrans Volkswagen thanks all their clients who have supported them for making this donation possible without compromising price and service.
 
When Unitrans Volkswagen initiated the Unite against Poaching trust in September 2011, the objective was to ensure that the rangers on the ground were adequately equipped to fight the ruthless poachers they were faced with on a day to day basis.  There is no doubt that this objective is being met. To date over R 3 million has been spent ensuring that the field rangers have the basic equipment which allows them to spend prolonged periods in the bush.  A great deal of the funds have been earmarked  to ensured that the rangers facing the poachers have been trained with the latest counter insurgency skills to successfully track and capture the poachers as well as making sure  the forensic evidence to support  successful prosecution is provided.
 
The Unite against Poaching trust fund has also been the major sponsor in establishing the Unitrans Tracker Hounds project in the Kruger National Park. These hounds have been identified as one of the pivotal tools in the war against rhino poaching and their deployment has already seen the successful apprehension of rhino poachers.
Unitrans Volkswagen has also stepped up to address the scientific requirement in the prosecution of rhino poachers. R 500 000 has been donated to the rhino DNA project , RhODISTM at Onderstepoort,  which hosts the rhino DNA database for Southern Africa and provides forensic evidence for every single rhino poaching case in the country.  Due to the critical demands placed on the genetic analyser by RhODISTM, urgent repairs of R 40 000 were required which Unitrans Volkswagen have settled.
 
In conjunction with SANPark’s Honorary Rangers they have established a fund “Unite for RhODIS” and challenge other local and international corporates, schools and induviduals to support their anti-rhino poaching initiative and help raise the R 2.5 million needed to acquire a second Genetic Analyser for RhODISTM to address the demand for forensic evidence.
 
To see how the members of the public can help in the war against poaching go to the Unite against Poaching website www.uniteagainstpoaching.co.za
 
Issued by :
Linda Joyce