Ezemvelo Wildlife slams Madonsela over 'inaccurate' open letter to Ramaphosa

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela has come under fire for remarks she made about Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife without allegedly checking the facts.

Last week, Madonsela wrote an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa pleading with him to look into the state of the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park following an email sent to her in July by a concerned resident.

In the open letter, Madonsela alleged Ezemvelo had not implemented some of her remedial recommendations in her report titled “Ubuntu”, which she released as public protector. 

She investigated the state of affairs at the park and released a report about eight years ago.

“I need you to intervene in Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife to reassure the people of communities surrounding the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park that it is not only the Constitutional Court which believes that our democracy is founded on ubuntu, your government equally believes so,” Madonsela told Ramaphosa.

The board of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife reacted to the accusations made by Madonsela.

The board's spokesperson Musa Mntambo said Madonsela penned the letter to Ramaphosa based on information from July without making any follow-up on developments since receiving the email. 

“To escalate such a matter to the highest office in the country without conducting this essential due diligence, as well as affording the other parties a right of reply, is concerning, particularly when taking into consideration that the current board has been prioritising the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park since being appointed in June 2022 and continues to do so,” said Mntambo.

Mntambo claimed the letter contains several inaccuracies which, if left unchallenged, may perpetuate a view that the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife ignored the public protector's report written more than eight years ago.

He said the letter showed a need for more understanding of the entity's interventions since her report's publication.

“We are very concerned that advocate Madonsela never bothered to allow the current MEC for economic development, tourism, and environmental affairs (EDTEA) Siboniso Duma to respond to the complaints contained in the said email emanating from a member of the public. 

“Had the former public protector afforded the MEC such opportunity, he would have assisted in providing an update on the interventions implemented by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife to address the challenges raised,” he said. 

Mntambo said the current office of the public protector is involved in the matter and has been monitoring developments. 

He said if Madonsela had inquired, she would have been provided with reports as recent as September, addressing most of the issues raised in her open letter. 

“It is also false to allege that claims lodged for livestock killed by lions are not compensated for. According to the Human-wildlife Conflict Policy, the payment is honoured on proof that the dead livestock was killed by wild animals introduced into the community adjacent to protected areas, where they previously never existed. 

“Ezemvelo thus pays for damages caused by animals such as lions, elephants, and wild dogs. The policy provides that no payment should be made for wild animals such as leopards, hyenas, or jackals, which are free-ranging (meaning they exist outside the park and, therefore, may not necessarily be from Ezemvelo Park), and they also lived here long before the establishment of the protected area. Some of these animals remained outside when the park was established.”