Publications
- Joburg councillor Michael Sun is named in a Taiwanese publication in relation to an animal trading investigation in Taipei.
- He is named with three others who have been charged for allegedly inflating the costs of exporting wild animals from Africa.
- Sun said he not been contacted by Taiwanese or local authorities, nor seen any arrest warrant.
Johannesburg City councillor Michael Sun said he has not been contacted by authorities after a media report alleged a warrant for his arrest was issued to him in relation to an animal trading investigation in Taiwan.
He noted "with concern" how "this issue strangely surfaces and the story is manipulated to allege that I have been arrested here during a time of heightened political tension in Johannesburg".
According to a report by Focus Taiwan CNA English News last week, three people including a prominent Taiwanese TV host Tian-yi Lee, were charged for inflating the costs of exporting wild animals from Africa to Wanpi World Safari Zoo in July 2020.
Lee, her husband Jen-chieh Kuo and Lee Tony were charged with "breach of trust" by the Taipei district prosecutors office for allegedly making illegal profits.
The article stated that prosecutors also issued an arrest warrant for Sun for his alleged involvement in the case.
Sun said in a statement on Tuesday: “I have not been contacted by the Taiwanese authorities abroad, the Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa, the South African Police Service nor the National Prosecuting Authority regarding any arrest. Neither have I seen any official documentation relating to the allegations as contained in the foreign media report or an arrest warrant issued against me.
"As such," he said, "I cannot comment on an arrest warrant I have not seen."
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According to Focus Taiwan, Lee was asked by the Zoo owner Rong-hua Chang for help importing African wildlife because she had worked on productions in Africa and had the contacts. She resigned from her job in February due to the allegations.
Sun is alleged to have helped a Taiwanese businessman based in Africa set up a registered company to export animals. The businessman had a contract with Chang to import animals into Taiwan, the contract cost was $5.46 million (about R95 million) with an additional $890 000 (R15 million) for the establishment of the company.
The article alleged that Sun received $264 000 (about R4,5 million) of the $890,000 in March last year.
Sun, the head of the city's infrastructure and environmental service, is a commercial attorney with more than 20 years of experience. He returned to his private practice in 2019 after his term as public safety MMC ended.
He said from 2020 to 2021 he acted as the legal adviser to a foreign company wishing to purchase wildlife from Eswatini destined for a zoo in Taiwan.
“If indeed there is an arrest warrant, even though I have committed no crime, I will gladly submit myself to any investigation or depose to a statement relating to the allegations. To respect the foreign legal process moving forward I will not be commenting further on the matter. This does not affect my work nor the work of the multiparty government," he said.
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“I have taken my leadership into confidence in regards to this matter. I do note with concern how this issue strangely surfaces and the story is manipulated to allege that I have been arrested here during a time of heightened political tension in Johannesburg."
Smaragda Louw, chair of Ban Animal Trading (Bat), an NPO working against the selling of animals, said South Africa regularly traded wildlife with Taiwan. She said the exports included frogs; tortoises, including the indigenous leopard tortoise and angulate tortoise; serval; many species of birds, including African grey parrots; and giraffe.
She said South Africa was also a popular destination for exotic animal hunting because these animals were not protected under South African law.
CITES appendix 1 lists species that are the most endangered.
Louw said if the allegations about Sun were true she would be shocked because his political party, the DA, "are the only party that sees animals as sentient beings."
